Book One: Trigger
by Shinigami's Soldier
Summary: Triggers are words, phrases, or sounds set deep in a persons subconcious.They're usually tied to a different personality. When someone speaks these triggers the person changes. Book One of the Perfect Soldier Arc.
1. Prologue

The Perfect Soldier Arc

Book One: Trigger

"Triggers are words, phrases, or sounds set deep in a person's subconscious. They're usually tied to a different personality. When someone speaks these triggers the person changes." Heero, Chapter Three

Rated: R

Pairings: 3+4

Warnings: angst, shonen-ai, violence, language, OOC

Arc Summary: Doctor J succeeded in making the Perfect Soldier, complete with genetic enhancement and a little fail safe known throughout the military as a "trigger". But he never counted on his comrades not following his example to the tee. The result? You read to find out! Eventual 1+2, 3+4. Far off 1x2, 3x4. Definitely AU. Told from various points of view. All characters are OOC, if only a little.

Book One Summary: It all begins with a forced meeting and turns into a friendship fuelled by hardships and camaraderie. Heero meets the pilots and goes through a horrible experience that brings the five pilots closer together.

Notes: Words in **bold type** are flashbacks, words in _italics_ are emotions felt through Quatre's empathy.

Disclaimer: Take a good long look at me. Do I look rich to you? If I do then maybe you need glasses. If not, it's because I'M NOT! I don't own any of the Gundam characters or the "trigger" idea. Hell, I barely know what a trigger is. Everything I used in this fic is based on what I learned in Buffy the Vampire Slayer during season seven.

Prologue – Meeting Heero

Wu Fei POV

A harsh wind rustled the leaves of the large oak tree positioned strategically outside my window. The tree had grown there naturally, so I could not curse the thing, but I am sure that the builder of the house had built the house just so. Thus committing the next several (thousand) occupants of the room to various practical jokers who decided that climbing said tree to scare the living daylights out of the occupant was a good idea of fun.

To my displeasure, one such practical joker was living in the house with me. And he must have worshipped the man - whom I felt justified in cursing - that built the house, for he made good use of that tree almost daily.

Duo Maxwell was the biggest practical joker that I ever had the displeasure of meeting. He was loud, crude, touchy-feely, and – even though I loathe admitting or believing it - a formidable opponent. I suppose one had to be in order to pilot a Gundam. I sighed.

"Is there something wrong?" I looked up from my musings to see the fair-haired pilot of Sandrock standing in the doorway, leaning against the wooden frame. Quatre Raberba Winner was the most tolerable of the three other pilots currently living in the house, next to his tall uni-banged lover Trowa Barton. The fifth pilot – rumored to be the first trained - had yet to make an appearance at the house, so I wasn't quite sure what he was like.

"I was just wishing that the builder of this house was still alive so I could throttle him to death." Quatre frowned. I had almost forgotten that he disliked any unnecessary violence, even if it would never come to pass. Quatre's questioning gaze was answered when I glared at the window, and the tree outside it.

"Did Duo do something again?" He sounded exasperated, but I don't know if it was at me or at Maxwell.

"Not yet." Winner sighed. "And I do not need another of your 'give Duo a chance, he's just venting his boredom and doesn't mean it' lectures." I snapped when he opened his mouth. He snapped it shut with a small huff. "He's a nuisance." I almost regretted saying that; the look on Winner's face was that of a whipped dog.

"Glad to know I'm well loved!" Winner let out a small squeak as a pair of arms wrapped around his neck from behind and a body slammed into his, nearly toppling him into my room. I quickly quashed my guilt as the object of our discussion made himself known.

Violet eyes blinked happily, and he grinned as he rested a chin on Winner's shoulder. He had to lean over a little to accomplish this as he was a good few inches taller that the blond Arab.

"Duo! Please don't jump on me like that." He pleaded for what I knew was the hundredth time. Maxwell pushed away and put a hand to his head, scratching lazily and making his braid swing. He gave a sheepish grin that made me scowl.

"Sorry Q-man, forgot you don't like that cuz you're short." Winner gave a little frown.

"Maxwell, didn't anyone ever teach you any manners?" I asked. "You don't make fun of someone because of their physical appearance! It is unjust, not to mention unfair!" Unfortunately, by opening my mouth I turned the braided boy's attention to myself. Oops.

"Aww, Q knows I'm just fooling around!" He clapped a hand on said boy's shoulder. "Besides, I'm short too when you put me by Tro!" Winner sighed, but he had a small smile on his face and I realized that he was enjoying Maxwell's playful banter. I snorted. "Hell, Godzilla would look short next to him."

"I highly doubt that would be the case." I retorted. "Should Godzilla have been real of course." Maxwell stuck his tongue out at me and I returned my attention to Winner, successfully blocking out the braided fool. "Now what are you doing in my room?" Winner's face brightened and I prepared to tune him out - that look usually meant that he was about to talk about his lover and I had no desire to hear his mooning tone.

"Trowa's on his way back from a mission. He picked up the final pilot." This caught my attention.

"Picked him up?" I enquired.

"Yes. Quite literally apparently. The boy was captured on his way to earth and was being held at the base Trowa was targeting. I guess he was on his way out when Trowa attacked. The boy was knocked out by the explosion and Trowa picked him up."

"And his Gundam?" I asked.

"Is he okay?" Maxwell cut in.

"Trowa is fine. The boy is beat up pretty bad. And as for his Gundam, I don't know. It wasn't at the base and I didn't pick up anything in any of the systems so I'm guessing it's safely hidden." I nodded. "I came up to ask for your help."

"Yeah, sure." I nodded. "What do you need?"

"I need you to fill up the bath with some of your medicinal herbs while I ready his bed and Duo gets the kits. I figured your medicines would hurt him less…" I was already up and in my closet, rummaging through the bottles of liquids I had packed in a leather case.

"I won't be able to use some until I know for sure what's wrong with him." I said, pulling out the basics: mild soothers and bruise softeners, disinfectants. I put a few different kinds of painkiller bottles in the pile, and one that acted as a tranquilizer.

"That's fine. You can always get more." Quatre said softly before retreating with Duo. I gathered the pile of little bottles into a small bag and made my way to the bathroom.

The bathroom itself was plain: white tiled floor and creamy colored walls, small light fixtures, a decent sized sink. But the bathtub was a shower/tub/Jacuzzi combination that could easily fit three people.

I stashed the bag on the counter and knelt down to turn on the faucets. I left the bubbler lever alone and adjusted the temperature of the water until it was lukewarm. I could hear Winner in the other room, and Maxwell downstairs. It sounded like a mini-tornado had touched down in the living room.

Once the tub was full I took out the bottles and added the liquids one at a time, stirring the water with my hand until it smelled like a garden. I stashed the unused bottle, the tranquilizer, under the cabinet in case it was needed and made sure there were plenty of soft towels within reach.

Then I retreated to the hall, where Maxwell – arms filled with medical kits - nearly bowled me over as he practically skipped into the unoccupied bedroom. I rolled my eyes and made my way down the stairs. The living room looked like a tornado had hit down, just like I figured it would.

While the other two were busy upstairs I kept an eye on the window facing the caves where our Gundams were stored. It wasn't long before I saw a lumbering object land in front of them, and then proceed in. I got up and made my way outside, stopping at the mouth of the cave to let my eyes adjust to the poor lighting.

When my vision corrected itself I could see Heavyarms hatch open, and its large hand lower. The fingers uncurled and a figure dropped gently to the ground. I raised an eyebrow – I guess Winner wasn't kidding when he said Barton had 'picked up' the other pilot. I slowly made my way over to the still figure and Barton leapt gracefully down.

"Be careful." He warned in that quiet tone of his. I paused. "He may look unconscious…." He never got to finish his sentence. The figure gathered his legs under him and launched himself at me with a feral snarl. I dodged a poorly aimed punch – which seemed more like a swipe - and he went flying over my shoulder to land miraculously on his feet. "Don't let him escape!"

"I don't plan on it." I growled, incensed that this boy attacked me. I flew after the surprisingly agile body as it took off out of the cave….and right into a shocked Winner.

"What…?" Winner yelped as the boy collided with him, sending them both flying into the dirt with the blond on the bottom frozen in shock. The new pilot froze. Barton froze. And I froze, thinking:

'Now what in the hell do we do?'

TBC

Yeeeaaaa! My first fanfic! The idea was put in my head during one of my many chats with Erin over messenger during my economics class. Go figure, i think about the fun stuff in the most boring class ever.

Beta Read by: My best friend Erin (Childe of Darkness).


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One - It Starts

_Quatre POV _

The boy was blinking at me in shock as I stared up at him. I was also shocked, but it was mostly at the sight of the wild - almost feral – gaze and at the feeling of _fearpainconfusion_ he was projecting. I jerked my hand, motioning for the other pilots to stay still. I could sense Duo making his way over, and he seemed to pick up on the seriousness of the situation. He just stopped.

Much to the surprise of Wu Fei and Trowa, and apparently to the boy, I smiled tentatively. "Hello." I spoke quietly, soothingly. "You must be the final Gundam pilot." Prussian blue eyes narrowed at me and I squashed the desire to shiver and the cold gaze and the sudden onslaught of _distrust_. "My name is Quatre. I pilot the Gundam Sandrock, also known as zero-four." I continued in the same soothing tone.

The boy tilted his head _confusiondistrust _and slowly got up. He stood on shaky legs as I pushed myself up and attempted to dust myself off. It didn't work well and I realized that I had ruined another pair of trousers and a shirt.

"You're a pilot?" The boy rasped. His voice was gruff and I could hear the distrust in his tone, as well as feel it. I took a moment to scan his injuries through his tattered clothing before nodding: lacerations along his entire body, bruising, a gunshot wound in his shoulder and a graze along his upper thigh. I couldn't really see his back from my position but I figured that it had to be as bad as - or worse than - the wounds I could see.

"Yes. The same as you. All of us are pilots." Blue eyes swept past me to look at Duo, and then he shifted to study Wu Fei and Trowa. The feral look was gone, replaced by coldness and, again, distrust

"Surely your commander told you about us." Wu Fei spoke up, using a different tactic but using the same relaxing tone I was. The boy startled and I got a flash of _pain_ from the boy than nearly made ME keel over. I knew without a doubt that he was fighting to remain conscious and upright.

"Affirmative." I could see Wu Fei nod almost unnoticeably.

"We were all given orders to meet, and stay here, for the time being." He revealed. The pilot nodded uncertainly. "Then there is no need to attack us. Or run." Wu Fei said matter-of-factly.

"We have a room ready for you. And a bath…" I spoke up hesitantly. The pilot turned his attention back to me, although he kept an eye out for the others, and I noticed that he was slightly more relaxed. He was still very tense and ready to spring into action, which pointed to intense training. I combined his mannerisms with the fact that he was injured yet still fighting….and deduced that he was one heck of a soldier.

"Bath…?" I caught the _wistful_ feeling rushing though him before he successfully blocked it.

"Yes. It's ready and warm. Wu Fei put some of his healing balms in it for you." He tensed and Wu Fei began to speak, naming the different liquids he used. I could feel the pilot _slipping_, losing the fight to stay conscious as Wu Fei spoke.

"What is your name?" I asked once Wu Fei was done. _Hesitance_. "I already told you mine. The boy you were just listening to is Wu Fei. The boy behind him is Trowa, and the one behind me is Duo."

"Code names?" I shook my head. _Confusion_.

"Not mine." I said. Wu Fei also shook his head, but Trowa and Duo shrugged. "Duo and Trowa named themselves." I supplied. "We all use different names or our numerical codes during missions." I said. This made him relax marginally. "We use our names amongst ourselves to promote camaraderie."

"You can call me Heero. Heero Yuy." He finally said in response. I nodded and smiled again.

"Well Heero, let's go inside and you can get cleaned up." After a brief moment of _hesitation_ he nodded and began to walk slowly towards the house, favoring his left ankle. "Are you hungry?" I asked once he reached my side. I began walking beside him, keeping a respectful distance.

"Iie." I turned my head to look at him.

"It's Japanese." Wu Fei spoke up from behind, in response to my confusion. "He said 'no'." We reached the house. The door was already open and Duo was waiting inside, watching Heero curiously. Thankfully the Deathscythe pilot chose to stay silent. From the sudden _wary_ feeling from Heero, Duo's normal greeting would have pushed him back into the previous feelings of fear, pain, confusion, and probably would have made the injured boy run.

"Oh. But you must be! I'll make something light." I insisted. Heero gave me a look and I felt the _astonishment_. "It's no problem. I might as well make something for everyone. It's late enough for dinner."

"I'll show him the bathroom, and his room." Wu Fei offered before Duo could. I nodded and Heero shifted. Wu Fei began to move up the stairs and I watched Heero limp after him.

"Duo, you can help me." I said before Duo could make it to the stairs. Trowa seated himself at the kitchen table.

"But I wanna go introduce myself!" Duo pouted. But he moved with me to the cabinets to get ingredients for spaghetti.

"Leave him be for now. I know you don't mean any harm but Duo….he's not like us." I said. "I can feel it. There's something…." I held a hand to my heart to emphasize my point.

"Your coconut giving you trouble?" Duo asked, as always butchering the title.

"Not trouble. But the emotions I sensed from him were…well, it felt like he was hiding them, or trying to. They felt different than ours too, they had an almost animal-like feeling to them and they seemed…broken. They were really cloudy and I could barely sense him." I explained as I filled a large pot with water.

"He was dampering them then?" Trowa asked in quiet surprise.

"It takes years to learn how to do that!" Duo exclaimed as I turned the stove on. He pulled out a box of the spaghetti noodles and a smaller pot for the sauce. "He must have been trained well."

"Too well." I muttered. "He's too….inhuman isn't the right word, but it's the only word I can think of to use. Duo, I want you to be careful." Duo blinked. "Don't treat him like you do us. I don't think he will take it too well."

"How can you tell?" Duo asked.

"I can feel it. He can hold back most of his emotions and feelings. And he feels like the type to shoot first and ask questions later." Trowa let out a soft snort. "I could barely read him…." And it bothered me.

The rest of the time spent cooking dinner was silent.

_Heero POV_

I followed the Asian boy - Wu Fei - up the short staircase. I could hear the small blond - Quatre - talking to the American – Duo - telling him more or less to leave me be. That was fine with me. I didn't really want to be around people anyway. I've been alone for most of my life, and it suited me just fine.

"Here's the bath room." Wu Fei stopped outside a closed door. "The bath is ready for you. I suggest you not add or release water. The medicines I put in need the amount that's already in there in order to work properly." I nodded. "It should still be warm; there is a heater that you can turn up if you need it warmer."

"Arigatou." I muttered. Wu Fei gave me a look.

"Dou-itashimashite." He replied. "You're room is one door down." He motioned to the only room with the door closed. I nodded and stepped into the bathroom. I closed the door in his face and locked it.

I kicked off my ruined sneakers and peeled off my tattered socks. I ignored the swollen ankle the best I could and continued to pull off my tank top - or rather its tatters - and my shorts. A few knives that the soldiers missed when I was captured dropped out as I tugged the shorts off and I kicked them towards the door.

Finally nude I stepped into the large tub and settled into the warm water. I winced as the water lapped at the lacerations over my body, but eventually the medications numbed the pain. I sank into the warmth up to my neck. I soaked for a good ten minutes, pondering the pilot that called himself Quatre.

The boy was an empath. My mind was sensitive enough that I could feel him as he reached out with his mind, touching mine. I barely had enough time to block my emotions, and I knew he had felt the confusion and pain before I could successfully block. But then I became distracted by the Asian boy as he spoke about what he had been ordered and I could hear the blond as he had gasped. I had allowed some of my pain to broadcast when I turned a little too quickly.

I shook my head before pulling one of the wash clothes off the hook, determined to block my emotions better so that the empath would not be able to read me. I lathered the cloth with some soap and began to scrub at my face, then neck, shoulders, chest, back, and legs.

Blood and grime peeled off, staining the water. I ignored the disgusting color and scrubbed, paying special attention to the open wounds. I scrubbed them until they bled again, thoroughly cleaning them. Bruises were ignored. The bullet in my shoulder needed to be taken out so I dug my fingers in until the wound was gaping and I could pry the piece of metal out of the bone. I threw it across the room and saw it roll under the door.

A shadow moved and I realized that Wu Fei was still standing there. He must have picked the bullet up. I returned to my work and scrubbed the shoulder until I deemed it clean. Then I poked and prodded at my ankle until I diagnosed it as having a few small hairline fractures.

"Heero?" I looked up. That was Quatre's voice. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. Will you need help with your wounds?" I contemplated the answer.

"Ha…yes. It would be appreciated." I finally said, deciding to have one of the others bandage my wounds.

"Okay. Trowa will wait for you in your room then. Would you like to eat in your room or with us?"

"My room." I heard a soft, almost disappointed, sigh.

"Okay. I'll ready you a plate." I almost felt bad for hurting the small boy's feelings. Almost. With a sigh I stood up from the tub and let the water drain out. I wobbled as I stepped out and wrapped a towel around my waist. There was a robe on the door but I left that. It would have to come off when I had my wounds treated anyway.

I opened the door and stepped out to find the hall empty. I made my way to 'my room' and paused briefly when I saw Trowa by the desk. His posture was relaxed and his hands were in sight, so I slowly made my way to the bed. "We'll do your back first. Do you want to sit or lay?" He spoke softly.

"Sit." He nodded and moved slowly as I sat. I tensed when he sat behind me with the first aid supplies. I could hear him spreading things out on the bed and forced myself to relax. Finally he quieted and I could hear a soft inhalation.

"What did this?" At first I though he meant the wounds, but then a finger touched a small bundle of scar tissue near one of my shoulder blades and trailed along a thin scar. I stayed silent as he traced the other one, then a small one near my tailbone. "Don't tell me then. I would like to know however, if you ever feel like talking."

When I didn't supply any information he seemed to shrug and continue. He wiped off the blood with a cloth and began to examine the open lacerations on my back. "Are you okay with stitching?"

"Just do it." I said. I knew many of the wounds needed stitches. It would not bother me. I felt him shift and then a prick as the needle entered my skin. He worked in silence, stitching up more wounds than I thought I had. I could feel the needle move in an out, and the surgical thread as it pulled my wounds closed. When he finished, I felt him spread a thick cream onto the wounds.

He moved around to my front, needle in hand. Luckily only a few of the lacerations there needed stitching. Bandages were put aside until later and Trowa moved to the graze on my thigh. That one needed stitching as well, and I could tell that my almost nudity made him nervous. It wasn't until I tried to grab the needle to do it myself that he began working. I smirked.

"I take it you can take care of the bruises and small cuts?" He asked as he tied off the knot, creamed, then bandaged the wound.

"Hai." He started to stand, but must have caught sight of my swollen leg.

"Broken?" He asked. I nodded. "Does it need to be set?" I could hear the nervousness creeping into his voice. He must not have been trained to set his own broken bones, or anyone's for that matter. Instead of answering I bent over and began to poke and squeeze up and down my leg, double checking for anything more than the hairline fractures I had found before.

"Just cracked. A bandage will be fine." I sat back and let him wrap the ankle tightly. By the time he was finished bandaging the rest of the wounds and picking up, I had unwillingly taken the painkillers provided and I felt my body begin to become lethargic. I must have pushed myself too hard again, for the drugs to take affect this quickly.

"Are you done in there?" Quatre asked from the other side of the closed door. I slid myself under the covers, not bothering with clothes, and Trowa let him in. I watched the small blond as he brought a tray of food in. "You should eat now while it's warm."

"Iie." I allowed my body to fall back onto the bed. I still kept my eyes trained on them, ready for any quick movement.

"But it'll get cold…."

"Should have waited to make it then." I said crossly; the drugs, as usual, were beginning to make me anxious and more irritable than usual. I just wanted them to leave, yet I didn't really want to hurt the blonde's feelings. Quatre lowered his gaze sadly and I gave an uncharacteristic sigh. "Gomen…." Damn these drugs.

"What?"

"He apologized." Trowa explained. Quatre gave a small 'oh' and made his way over to me. I lowered the arm that I had brought up to shield my face as he came to a stop beside me.

"It's okay. You're hurt and tired. If you want, I can bring this down and when you're hungry I'll reheat it." The kindness in his eyes made me feel ill and I turned away. I gave a small nod and he retreated. I heard the door close and rolled onto my side.

When I opened my eyes again I blinked in surprise when I saw that he had left a little plate with bread, and a glass of milk.

TBC


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

_Duo POV_

I was just the tiniest bit peeved. Okay, I was extremely peeved. All of the others got to meet this new pilot, got to talk to him. So far I was the only one who hadn't. And why was that? Weeell, Quatre said I would annoy him and he wasn't the type of guy to tolerate me without shooting me.

How, pray tell, would QUATRE know that? Sure he's got that heart coconut (the true name is uchuu no kokoru but hey, it pisses Wu Fei off when I pronounced it the "wrong way"….and we all know how much fun it is to piss Wu Fei off!) that lets him in on another person's feelings and emotions…..but still!

"Maxwell!" I schooled my manic grin into an angelic smile and turned to Wu Fei.

"How may I be of service today?" I asked with a fake French accent. Wu Fei grimaced.

"You're making a mess." I looked down to see that I had gotten strings of spaghetti and sauce on the table. And my hands. I picked up the spaghetti strings and put them back on the plate before swirling my fork and eating another mouthful.

"When can I meet the new guy?" I asked. Quatre paused, knife and butter poised over a piece of bread. He had returned from Heero's bedroom, tray missing only a plate of bread and the glass of milk, an hour ago.

"I don't know Duo. He's not well." Quatre said, continuing with his buttering.

"So? I just want to meet him."

"He doesn't need you annoying him Maxwell. He's got enough to deal with….like getting better?" I stuck my tongue out at Wu Fei and got a scowl in return. Man that guy was uptight!

"I won't annoy him….much. I just want to introduce myself to him and all. I mean, he's been here for hours….." I looked pleadingly to Quatre.

"Not today, Duo. He's…hostile." Quatre finally said. "The drugs are bothering him and he's ill." I pouted. "But I'll let you go up tomorrow, how's that?" I sighed.

"I'm not a little kid." I said with a huff.

"Then don't act like one." Came Wu Fei's reply. I glared at him and decided to leave the table…and the rest of my dinner. I could hear Quatre hovering between calling me back and scolding Wu Fei.

I made my way up the stairs and past the door to Heero's room. I was tempted to peek in, but I remembered Quatre's warning and resisted the temptation. Instead I made my way out onto the balcony near the end of the hall and practically fell into one of the chairs. I leaned my head back, planning on resting my eyes…and froze.

Dull Prussian blue eyes bore into mine for a second before I leapt up with a squeak. With my back pressed to the railing I looked up to see Heero crouched on the roof, watching me. "Uhm…I thought you were ill?"

"I was." He had a deep voice.

"So uh…what're you doing up there?" He didn't answer. "How did you get up there anyway? You're injured." He shrugged one shoulder. "I'm Duo by the way. Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide but I never tell a lie!" He didn't look too impressed.

I tilted my head at him as he stared at me. There was something about him….I hopped foreword and bravely stuck my hand up in his face. He flinched back as if struck, but I left my hand there until he settled and took it with one of his own. I grinned as a jolt shot through our connected hands.

"What…?" He almost yelped, pulling away. His eyes were wide and I could tell that the jolt had confused him. I ignored his semi-frightened look and swung myself up to perch beside him. He stared at me as I balanced next to him perfectly.

"So, what're you?" I asked casually. The startled look in his eyes faded and they turned cold. He shifted away from me.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said. I tilted my head.

"Sure you do. We were all genetically manipulated by those scientists. Plus that little jolt? It my body reacting to yours, and it only does that when I come into contact with another genetically engineered person." I said calmly, if not little cheerily. I certainly didn't mind what G had done to me! Heero gave me a disbelieving look. "Sure it was supposed to be a secret, but we're all allies and partners. We should know each other's strengths and weaknesses so we're prepared. Right?" Man of Wu Fei could hear me now he'd have a heart attack!

"I have no weaknesses. They are not productive in a soldier." Man, he sounded like a text book! I gave him one of my goofy grins and replied.

"I never said you had any! I'm just saying that if we all know what each other is, then we can compromise in a battle situation so that we can all do our best in our designated areas." He shifted, and I could tell by the look on his face that he was considering. But it just happened to be my luck that, as soon as he opened his mouth, Quatre had to catch on to the fact that neither of us were in our rooms.

"DUO!" I nearly toppled off the roof as his voice rang through the house. I groaned and could see Heero's gaze hardening. Damn! I was so close. "DUO!" Now Q-ball sounded panicked.

"Up here!" I finally hollered. Heero started to inch his way back to his window, but I blocked him with a friendly grin. I could hear Quatre's footsteps as he ran to the balcony. He paused when he stepped out, looking around in confusion. I grinned and sent out a burst of feeling that was like a mental 'BOO!', and cackled as he leapt around in shock.

"Duo!" He cried. "That wasn't funny! We thought you took off. Heero's gone too. You haven't seen him have you?" I looked out of the corner of my eye to find that Heero had melded into the shadows.

"Yeah, he's up here." I said. I heard a soft growl and grinned as Heero inched out into Quatre's view. He looked angry, and judging by Quatre's expression he was broadcasting. I turned to Heero. "Heero, stop broadcasting. You're hurting Quatre." He blinked and a stricken look passed through his eyes. I almost didn't see it. Almost immediately Quatre relaxed.

"G-Gomen."

"It's okay Heero. What are you two doing up there anyway?" Quatre asked, leaning against the rail.

"I found him up here." I said as Heero shifted. "I was trying to get him to tell me what he is." Quatre's eyes widened, and then narrowed. I remember too late my promise to not bug the new boy about his abilities.

"Duo, what did I tell you about bothering him?" I grinned nervously.

"I was just…"

"Duo Maxwell you get your butt down here and leave him be!" I knew I must have looked pathetic because I heard Heero snicker beside me.

"Yeah, yuk it up Heero." I grumbled as I leapt down to stand beside Quatre, who glared at me before turning up to Heero. It was my turn to snicker as Quatre began to yell at HIM.

"And YOU! You should be in bed resting, not climbing on rooftops!" Heero looked startled. "Get down here right now mister and get back to bed!" The look of utter bewilderment on Heero's face made me laugh heartily. "You be quiet and get inside." I shut up and scurried inside as Heero dropped down from the roof. Quatre gently pushed him inside and closed the balcony doors.

"Way to ruin some fun Quat." I mumbled with a pout. Quatre humphed and glared pointedly at Heero until he retreated to his bedroom and shut the door.

"Duo, you should know better." Quatre turned to me.

"Sorry, but I was curious. And he wasn't mean to me at all. Anti-social yeah, but…"

"You shouldn't pry into his life like that! Look at how long it took for us to get Trowa and Wu Fei to open up! And they're lives weren't as harsh as his probably was." I tilted his head. "Duo, he's called Pilot Zero One for a reason. All of our genetic engineering was based off of what happened to HIM."

"What! Get out!"

"Yes. I'm sure G told you about J and his 'genius' experiments." I nodded. " I'm guessing that Heero's the result." I blinked.

"So…he's probably got a mix of all of our abilities?" I asked. Quatre nodded and I whistled. "Damn!"

I leaned against the door as soon as I closed it and took a deep breath. I hadn't expected the other one, the one I didn't officially meet, to find me up on the rooftop. And to introduce himself to me like he did….

"**I'm Duo by the way. Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide but I never tell a lie!" I stared at him as he tilted his head, an unreadable expression on his face. I was startled when he hopped foreword suddenly and bravely stuck his hand up in my face. I know I flinched back as if struck, but he left his hand there until I settled and took it with my own. A jolt of something shot through our connected hands.**

"**What…?" I yelped, pulling away. His eyes were as wide as my own but he was grinning. I could tell that the jolt had made him curious but it only confused me. He ignored my semi-frightened look and swung himself up to perch beside me. I stared at him as he balanced next to me.**

"**So, what're you?"**

I had to fight my instincts as he invaded my space and began to ask personal questions. Questions about me, about J. Questions I was currently forbidden to answer.

My eyes, which I had closed, snapped open as voices raised out in the hall. Instead of tuning them out, I listened in. "Duo, you should know better." That was Quatre.

"Sorry, but I was curious. And he wasn't mean to me at all. Anti-social yeah, but…" Why would I be mean to him? Sure I didn't like people in my space and tried my best to drive them away, but I would never physically hurt a civilian or an ally on purpose…..but they probably didn't know that, I had - unwillingly - been pretty rude to them so far.

"You shouldn't pry into his life like that! Look at how long it took for us to get Trowa and Wu Fei to open up! And they're lives weren't as harsh as his probably was." I tilted my head. How much did this pilot know about my life? "Duo, he's called Pilot Zero One for a reason. All of our genetic engineering was based off of what happened to HIM." This made me choke in surprise.

"What! Get out!"

"Yes. I'm sure G told you about J and his 'genius' experiments. I'm guessing that Heero's the result." This boy was perceptive.

"So…he's probably got a mix of all of our abilities? Damn!" I tuned out the rest of their conversation and slowly made my way over to my bed. I ignored the protests from my wounds as I flopped down and buried my head in the pillows. Now that the drugs were wearing off and the wounds hurt less, my head cleared and I was able to rationally think this through.

I had orders to come to earth without my gundam - it would be sent down after I confirmed my arrival at the safe point – and the coordinates for this location were given as a safe point. Upon arrival I was to stay until further notice. Of course, J had forgotten to mention that I would have company.

Which brought me to the thought of the other pilots. J had told me about them once before, so I knew that they were also modified like me. He said that my own genetic engineering was the base point to create others like myself. Four others, who would become my allies, although he used the term subordinates. He had then proceeded to train me into The Perfect Soldier. Much to his distaste, he was only partially successful…..

"**What is going on here!" The angry shout and the loud bang of the door being thrown open startled me from my book. I placed the well-used copy of Narnia on the bed, pushing the traitorous thought of escape out of my mind, and leapt to attention as J stomped in the best he could with the metal braces on his legs.**

"**I was not given any orders so I decided to read sir." I replied.**

"**Read? And a child's book no less…." He muttered unhappily, eyeing the book. "I see my engineering has created a bit of a setback in your soldiering."**

"**I don't understand sir."**

"**You are supposed to be a soldier full time! Not a child! You are not supposed to have any soft spots, and you are not supposed to…" He trailed off but I knew what he was going to say. I was not supposed to make my own decision. "The particular animals I combined in you have reacted differently to each other and to your training than I had expected." Suddenly he smiled. "Which means that everything is working well in that front." I tilted my head, the metal collar around my neck shifting. "You have a Mission." He stated. I straightened and all thoughts of the book and the fantasies of flying away to freedom slid from my mind as the haze of upcoming battle took over…..**

I sighed. My anti-social behavior was in part due to the animal genes in my body – neither animal was known to be exclusively social, though the dominant animal more so than the other, and neither species got along well with the other - but it was mostly due to the intensive training and programming J had put me through as a child.

I don't remember much of my life as a child. I only remember fighting and killing, and of being strapped to machines for programming. I know I had triggers placed deep within my subconscious. A word spoken only by J could trigger my soldier mode, in which I become what he had intended, my standby mode that made me as I am now – ready for combat, anti-social to the point of rudeness, tense, not very friendly or fun – and the last for when true peace is finally obtained or for when he wanted me to go undercover and needed me to show emotions. He could also combine any of the modes, should he wish. He never has.

The collar placed around my neck, hidden from sight by tiny stealth boosters, acted as a direct link to J. We could only hear the other when one wanted the other to listen. My side is almost always closed, as is J's. He uses it mainly for alerting me to a mission or putting me on standby.

It also acts as a control device. He has it programmed to shock me every time I do something I shouldn't or whenever I go too far deep into soldier mode. He doesn't use it too often, because after the first several times I felt the pain I learned to obey orders.

BZZP I jumped, startled, as my collar let out a little warning zap. I reached up to turn the communicator on. "Zero One, do you copy?"

"Zero One here." I heard the man let out a chuckle, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

"Good. New orders for you Zero One." I listened. "There will be no new orders from me after this, for quite a while. So listen closely." I tilted my ear closer to the speaker. My other ear picked up the sounds of footsteps as my housemates answered calls from their own commanders, and I tuned them out as I listened to J….

TBC

I know it seems confusing, but remember that I'm trying to put all of this in Heero's terms, and he understands everything better than even I do. Next chapter will have a full explanation on the triggers and what J did to Heero, and he'll explain it in terms and ways that anyone can understand…..for Duo, yanno.


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

_Heero POV_

I sat halfway down the stairs with my mind on the call from J. The old fool had to go and activate my weaker mode, my civilian mode. My emotions were allowed to roam free, I didn't have to try to control them. I could if I wanted to, and I could have become the soldier again if I wanted to – but I didn't.

"Don't you want to join us down here?" I looked through the rails at Quatre. They were all sitting around in the living room, cups of cocoa in their hands. Quatre and Trowa, who had apparently known each other the longest and had developed a relationship in that time, sat on the loveseat curled into one another. Duo and Wu Fei sat across from each other in the two chairs. That left the Lay-Z-Boy for me, should I want it. I didn't.

"Yeah, its loads more comfy in here. Warmer." Duo said. In response I pulled my knees to my chest and hugged them, clasping my arms to hold them up. The stitches pulled and I winced. "Okay, stay there then."

"Duo…" Wu Fei spoke, softly. "Did we all get the same message? Stay until further notice?" I saw the other three nod, and I nodded almost glumly when Quatre turned to me. "I wonder why that is then."

"Now that we're all together, maybe they want us to get to know each other?" Quatre hit the proverbial nail on the head. He was just missing one thing….

"They want us to learn how to work together so we become a better fighting unti." I said. My voice was hoarse from the lingering drugs, and I could tell that I had startled everyone when I spoke.

"Is fighting all you think about?" Trowa asked. Quatre was about to elbow him, but I answered. He had asked in a questioning tone, not a sarcastic or cold one.

"No. But it is why we were made." I pointed out. "It makes sense that once our individual training is finished we learn to fight as a team." There was silence. "Besides, J told me." Duo let out a snort.

"Well, I plan on making the most of this mini-vacation while I can. We can learn to fight as a team AFTER we get to know each other, ne?" He gave a cocky grin. "Soooo, since I like to talk the most I'll go first. We each say one thing, then when everyone said their piece we say another."

"Agreeable." Wu Fei said, though whether he meant the offer or the fact that Duo liked to talk was unknown to me. I rested my chin on my arms and watched.

"Thanks Wu." Wu Fei scowled. "Okay. Duo Maxwell is not my real name. My best friend Solo gave it to me when I was little, and I took the name Maxwell from the church I lived at." He looked to Quatre, and I was relieved to find that I would be the last to speak each turn.

"Quatre Raberba Winner is my real name, and I hate it. It's too long."

"I don't remember my real name; I took the name Trowa Barton from a dead guy." Okay, mildly interesting.

"Chang Wu Fei is my real name. Because it is Chinese my last name is considered my first. So it is really Wu Fei Chang." The spotlight was on me.

"I don't remember my real name either." I said, barely loud enough for them to hear. "J gave me the codename Heero Yuy."

"I don't have any living family that I know of, and the only family I remember died on L2." Duo said.

"I have 29 sisters…"

"No shit!" I almost laughed at the look on Duo's face at that revelation. Quatre continued as if Duo hadn't interrupted.

"And my father lives on L4. He doesn't approve of what I've become."

"I have one adoptive sister. She lives and works at the traveling circus from L3." Duo laughed.

"My clan, my family, was wiped out when L5 blew." Wu Fei said coldly.

"I never knew mine."

"Maybe we shouldn't get too personal? At least until we know each other longer." I could have kissed Quatre for his suggestion.

"Okay, but at the end we have to tell each other what our abilities and shit are." I almost groaned when everybody nodded. Even though I now had permission from J to tell them everything, it didn't mean I wanted to.

"Heero? Is that okay with you?" I sighed and gave Quatre a pathetic look but nodded. He smiled encouragingly. "Okay then, except for that we keep in impersonal."

"Okay, I'm 16." Duo said proudly.

"15." Quatre admitted, earning a few raised eyebrows.

"17." Trowa said.

"16." Wu Fei said. I really didn't want to reveal my age and I almost bolted when everyone turned to me.

"14." Duo fell out of his chair, Wu Fei dropped his cocoa, Quatre gasped, Trowa blinked, and I buried my head in my arms.

"How the hell can you be 14!" Duo asked as he pulled himself up. "You look at least 16!" I heard Quatre scold him and remind him of the genetic engineering and it's effects on the body. When I looked up again, Quatre was directly in front of me.

"Are you okay to continue?" He asked kindly. I scowled at him: I truly hated being treated like a kid, which was one of the reasons I didn't want them to know my true age. Though I had to admit, I tended to act it at times while in civilian mode.

He responded by sending soothing waves in my direction, and I relaxed. Seconds later he was sitting beside me on the stairs, close enough for me to feel the soothing vibes but far enough away to keep me relaxed.

"I want to get this over with." I finally said.

"Okay. We'll skip right to the hard part then. We'll learn the rest over time." I nodded. "Do you want to start?"

"No, I'll take the longest." Quatre nodded and turned to Duo, who picked up the conversation.

"I was eight when G picked me off the streets. Heh, I was stealing from his scientists at the time. After explaining my job and future should I accept his offer at being his pupil, I was trained in combat. I got my body back to perfect health. Then, when I was ten, he began the engineering that took two years to complete. From then until now I was trained in battle strategies, strength, Gundam fighting and care, and stealth." Here he paused. "I have no fucking clue as to how he did it, but he managed to fuse my genes with those of a panther. I can transform into a panther at will, completely or partially. I also have the senses of the panther and the stealth."

"Show us?" Trowa requested. Duo nodded. Off came the boots; off came the clothes until he was in his boxers.

"Pink hearts?" Wu Fei snorted. Even I had to chuckle as Duo stuck out his tongue. Then he gave us a wink and I was transfixed as his body began to twist and bend. Bones twisted and grew, muscles rippled, fur grew, his braid snaked back into his head, his feet and hands twisted and morphed into paws, a tail grew out of his backside. He slumped to the floor as the transformation slowed, then stopped.

"Amazing!" Quatre whispered from beside me. Duo-panther stood and stretched. Sleek claws appeared to scratch at the carpet, earning a scolding from Quatre. The panther grinned and sat on powerful haunches. "Is that all?" Quatre asked in awe. Duo-panther shook his head and elegant black wings, similar to a bats', erupted from his back. He flexed them, creating a small breeze and nearly knocking Wu Fei out of his seat. Duo-panther turned to Trowa who nodded.

"I was with a band of mercenaries until I was nine. Then I was picked up by S and worked as a mechanic on Heavyarms. At eleven I agreed to be the pilot and he trained me. I was already in good shape so he began the genetic changes immediately. I do not have any gene fusion, but he did tweak my genes so that I'm stronger than normal, I have better senses, and I can communicate with animals. I too have wings." I watched as he removed his shirt and unfolded the wings from where they had melded into his back. They were the same color as his hair, with darker and lighter streaked feathers. "My main part in this war, I was told, is as firepower and backup."

"I was picked up by Master O while I was still with my clan. I was trained since I was little to be a strong clansman, so I already knew martial arts and fighting when I agreed to be a pilot. My genes were tweaked the same as Trowa's, but I was trained specially for combat. I too have wings." Wu Fei's explanation was simple and to the point, which meant it was almost my turn. Wu Fei also unfolded his wings to reveal that they were covered in black feathers.

"H was working on my gundam at my father's colony. I met him through my father, actually. Like Wu Fei I was in perfect health and they began the genetic modification when I was eleven. I was training before then, and I continued to train after. I was trained in strategy and fighting, and the only noticeable alteration is my wings, although my senses were heightened too." He stood up and walked down the stairs, leaving me by myself as he unfurled his own golden-colored wings. "I was born with the empathy, but training made it better and now I can turn it on or off, sense emotions at will, and pinpoint the location and general health of anyone I wish."

I waited while Quarter settled in the other room again. They all had their wings out still, and it made me nervous. A gentle look of encouragement from Quatre got me started. "I lived with an assassin until I was six. By that time my body condition was perfect, I knew how to use weapons, and I didn't mind killing. I met J after Odin was killed on a mission, and he more or less dragged me back to his lab where I was kept under heavy sedation for a long time. When I woke up I was tied down to a lab table, and I felt different. My body was bigger, I was older. When J met with me, he told me what he had done. I tried to kill him." I paused. "I was twelve."

"He kept you sedated for six years?" Quatre asked, horrified. I turned my head away.

"Sort of. When I wasn't sedated I was fighting the genetic changes he had made. I guess it made me crazy. I don't really remember. After I tried to kill him, and nearly succeeded, he put me under and set triggers."

"Triggers?" Duo asked; now back in his human form. I could hear Trowa's surprised gasp, and Wu Fei's sharp exhalation. Thankfully I wasn't asked to explain – Trowa spoke up on my behalf.

"Triggers are words, phrases, or sounds set deep in a person's subconscious. They're usually tied to a different personality. When someone speaks these triggers the person changes." Duo scratched his head, so Wu Fei took over.

"You've heard of Multiple Personality Disorder?" Duo nodded. "Well, it's the same principle. When a person has it, they usually don't know it and when they see or hear something they can change personalities."

"I get it." Duo said. "Isn't that dangerous though? What if one of us says the trigger?" I shifted to look at him.

"It's keyed not only to a word, but to J's voice." I admitted. "As far as I know, J programmed three different personalities. One for fighting, one for standby, and one for peace."

"That's why you feel different today." Quatre said suddenly. I looked at him in shock. "When you arrived, I could barely feel you. You were blocking most of your emotions and feelings. I couldn't sense you like I could any other person. Then when we got the call, it was like you blipped back on my radar. I could sense you, but I still can't really read you. He triggered you." I nodded.

"Okay then." Duo said uncomfortably.

"You aren't in any danger unless J contacts me and triggers me. He won't do that though because we were all created to be a team." I said uncertainly.

"I believe you Heero." Quatre said. "What else is there?" Only Duo seemed surprised that there was more to my engineering.

"I'm like Duo. J fused my genes with that of a feline, but he also fused them with that of a canine. That's also why I wasn't stable. With both creatures' instincts trying to guide me…" I shrugged. "Eventually they melded and now I am a cross between human, dog, and cat."

"Wings?" Trowa asked. I nodded. And hoping that J wouldn't mind, I allowed my wings to unfurl for the first time in a long while. I could feel them as they brushed the walls and floor after I stretched them. There was nothing from the collar, so I relaxed and let my wings drape around my shoulders like a cape.

"I was trained to be a soldier." I said softly. "And to lead you in to battle. I have all of your abilities and have gone through all of your training at a higher level. I don't mean to be rude and discredit you…"

"It's okay. We understand." Quatre was by my side again. "We kinda figured than none of us would be leaders, we were not trained for it." To my surprise, all of them nodded. "In fact, if what you're saying about the triggers is true, then you'd probably be the best person to lead us. We all have emotions that can get in the way of orders, but your soldier doesn't correct?"

"Not that I can tell." I admitted.

"Then it's settled." Trowa said. "Now, show us your form?"

TBC

Did that explain everything? Except the collar, because he can't tell them about it yet.

Come on, i know there are people reading this...so why are none reviewing? pout


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

_Trowa POV_

Later that night, curled up in bed with Quatre sleeping peacefully in my arms, I had the chance to think about the latest addition to our group of Gundam pilots: Heero Yuy, or so he said was his code name.

The boy sure is an enigmatic surprise. Most people would say that about me, I confess, but in reality I am much simpler than Heero. I don't have three distinct personalities controlled by an old scientist, for one. Nor do I have a form that looks like a cross between a wolf and a panther. I am also not fourteen years old.

That came as the biggest shock to me. The boy that I had seen mow down and kill OZ troops with his bare hands. The boy that ruthlessly attacked both OZ and myself until he collapsed after the explosion. He was most definitely the fiercest of the five of us, yet he was the youngest.

"Trowa…." I bit my lip as Quatre turned around in my embrace to look up at me. "Why aren't you sleeping yet?"

"Thinking."

"About Heero?" I nodded. "He's so young, but his mind is older than all of ours. He'll make a good leader."

"He will." I agreed. Quatre sighed.

"He's too young for this, I know. But you heard him down there. He's been raised for this since he was born! It angers me to think that he could never have what the rest of had. And then to go through what he said he did with J."

"It's a shame we can't do anything." I said.

"Oh, but we can." Quatre looked up at me and smiled. "We can be there for him. You saw him tonight on the stairs. In the mode he's in now, he seems as helpless as the child he is. At least while he's like this…"

"We can try, Quatre. But remember that even though he has 'modes', they are all a part of him. We don't know if he can switch on his own or if, say we got attacked. If he would become the soldier." Quatre nodded against my chest. "We'll have to be careful around him, but not so that he notices."

"I agree. But I don't like it. I feel him now, and he's…." Quatre trailed off. "He feels young."

"We'll help him all that we can."

The next morning I woke early and went downstairs, expecting to be the only one up. I was surprised to find Heero at the kitchen table, a mug of coffee in his hands. "Good morning." I said.

"Hn." I poured myself a cup and walked to the other side of the table. Though Heero's face was lax and he looked half asleep, I could still sense the edge of danger he always seemed to radiate. "Before you ask, I haven't been triggered. I'm always like this before my coffee."

"I wasn't going to ask." I replied calmly, watching as Heero lifted his head. There were dark rings under his eyes, which were half closed. "Didn't sleep well?"

"No. I'm not sure what J wants me to do. Wants me to tell you, or not tell you." He let out a frustrated grunt.

"You're hiding something else." I noted. He nodded. "Is it going to hurt you?" He opened his mouth, and then paused before shrugging. "Can it?" He nodded, but didn't offer any more information. "Well, if you ever need to talk…."

"Arigatou." I nodded and we drank our coffee in silence. Wu Fei joined us a few minutes later with his tea, and Quatre soon struggled down for his own morning dose of caffeine. He settled beside me and drank in silence. Duo was the last to arrive, and he looked so pathetic with his disheveled braid and wrinkled clothes that even Heero grunted in laughter.

"Yar yar, yuk it up guys. Where's my coffee?" I held back a laugh and motioned to the coffee pot, which was soon emptied by Duo. I shook my head in amusement as Duo plopped into the chair beside Heero and let his head thunk to the table. Heero actually looked torn between amusement and worry.

"He's fine Heero." I assured him. "This is almost like a daily ritual. Watch, next he'll wake back up and be all confused."

"Wake back up? He was sleepwalking?" I nodded and sure enough Duo shot up in his seat and looked around.

"Huh?" He blinked. "Coffee?"

"In your hand." Wu Fei said. Duo looked down at the cup in confusion, then looked up and grinned sheepishly.

"I did it again. Did I do anything stupid?"

"Not really." He sighed in relief and downed the rest of the coffee.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" Duo asked as I cleared the table off. "Anything exciting planned?"

"Someone needs to get groceries." Quatre piped up. I could see Duo scowl and smirked. "I think you should take Heero." Heero looked up, still partially asleep. "He should get to know the land and town."

"There's a town? This close to the safe house?" He asked unhappily.

"It's not all that close." Duo said. "It's a two hour drive."

"But…!" He let out a little yelp and quieted. I peered at him in concern but he recovered and acted as if nothing had happened. Quatre hadn't missed the little yelp either.

"So will you two go?" Duo let out a sigh but nodded. Heero nodded as well, although he seemed a bit subdued.

"Great! Thanks!" Duo retreated to get dressed, and I followed him to the stairs.

"Duo!" I stopped him. Remembering to keep my voice low so Heero wouldn't hear, I began to speak. "I need you to see if you can find out what Heero's hiding. He said it can hurt him, and he shouldn't say. But did you notice in there….?"

"Yeah, I'll try." Duo said, serious. I nodded and returned to the kitchen just as Heero was leaving to get himself dressed.

_Duo POV_

I took the keys to the jeep off the hook and swung a coat on over my tee. I made sure my braid was tucked in before donning a cap and slipping on my boots. "Heeero! You comin!" There was a thump from the living room.

"Don't yell Maxwell!" Wu Fei hollered.

"You did!" I pointed out, just as Heero slid down the rail to land in front of me. I grinned at him and he gave me a shy smile in return.

"Did you jut slide down the rail?" Trust Wu Fei to hear the almost inaudible sound of clothing on wood. Heero had a deer-caught-in-headlights look, and I shrugged at him.

"No. I've been by the door the whole time." He was silent so I grabbed Heero by the elbow and, ignoring the flinch, dragged him out to the jeep before Wu Fei could figure out it was Heero that slid down the rail.

"Is that not allowed?" Heero asked once we were in the jeep and cruising down the dirt road.

"Well, Wu Fei and Trowa get annoyed by it. But almost anything annoys them." I said. "It's not NOT allowed, so you can do it if you want. I've known Quatre to do it on occasion!"

"Oh." He was silent. Unfortunately there wasn't any radio in the jeep, so I filled the silence the only way I know how.

"So, got any other little secrets?" I asked with a grin. I could see Heero stiffen at the question. Slowly, hesitantly, he answered.

"Yes." He flinched, as if expecting me to yell at him…or something.

"Wanna share?"

"I don't know if I can." He said, fiddling with the strap of his tank top. I shrugged and was ready to drop the subject, when he surprised me by speaking again. "Okay. Okay." I looked over at him and almost had a heart attack as a thin band of steel slowly materialized around his neck.

"Holy Fuck! Heero, what IS that?" I pulled the jeep over so I wouldn't loose control over it in my shock.

"It acts as a communication device between me and J. It's how he triggers me. That's all I am allowed to say." He said with a sigh.

"You can…talk to J through that?" I asked. He nodded. "And he can talk to you." Another nod. "Can you turn it off?"

"Sort of. We can turn off our ends but there is a way to make the other know if we need to be in contact." Here Heero shifted and I guessed I must have hit on a topic he wasn't able to talk about.

"How?" I ventured.

"Can't tell you." The metal band – collar, really – disappeared.

"How does it do that?" I asked as I pulled back onto the road.

"It has the same technology as you Gundam." I whistled. The rest of the ride into town was silent, with the exception of a few curses when pedestrians decided to run in front of me. My road rage made Heero snicker.

The trip through the small grocery store was, in my opinion, quite fun. I coaxed Heero into taking two carts, then after picking up the first items on our list (cereal: Coco Puffs, Rice Chex, Oatmeal mix, Raisin Bran…) I coaxed him into a cart race that ended with me sliding into a display of Campbell's soups. The manager of the store, to my surprise, merely laughed as I helped pick up the display.

After that little incident we continued on to pick up various kinds of cookies, microwave dinners, oven pizzas, toaster foods, bread, soups, Spaghettios and other related items, drinks, and finally ice cream. I managed to coax Heero into tasting the sample stir fry chicken being handed out, and he grimaced.

"The real stuff tastes better." He then proceeded to buy the ingredients for traditional Japanese stir fry and I grinned. Some more junk food was added to our carts, mainly for my use, and then we were on our way through the checkout line.

Let me tell you this, I'd never been more grateful for the scientists funding our supplies then I was at that time! The total came close to two hundred dollars. The bags barely fit in the jeep. As it was, Heero had the bread and squashable items in his lap as we careened back down the dirt roads to our safe house.

Wu Fei was nice enough to help us unload and put stuff away. When I asked about Tro and Quat he flushed and motioned to the ceiling. "They've been…occupied since you left."

"They're boinking like bunnies." I waggled my eyebrows. Heero narrowed his eyes, probably at my crudeness. "Oh well. I guess they don't want to know about Hee-chan's little secret."

"Secret? Another one?"

"Hee-chan?" I snickered.

"I'll tell, or rather Heero will tell, when they finish upstairs." I told Wu Fei. "And yes, Hee-chan." I skipped into the living room and began searching for the remote, grinning as Wu Fei spoke.

"He gives everyone he considers family 'nicknames'." He said in mild disgust. "You've officially been adopted into his 'family'."

"Do you have one?" I cracked up as Wu Fei spluttered and I couldn't help it.

"He has several. Wu-man, Wu-bear, Fei, Fei Fei, Fei-cakes…"

"Maxwell!" I eeped and leapt up as Wu Fei came crashing into the room, dropping the remote on the couch and dashing upstairs. I could hear Heero's laughter as I ran, and I grinned.

TBC


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

_Heero POV_

It took me four weeks to relax completely around the other gundam pilots, even in my current peaceful mode. While I was used to being around a group of people, the group I had gotten used to had been quiet, polite, calm, work-orientated, and usually acted as if I were an important experiment instead of a boy. They were also the same – same personality, same monotonous voice, same everything. These pilots were the exact opposites.

Duo was the loudest. He preferred talking over silence, and played the TV or radio louder than it needed to be. He enjoyed playing jokes on everyone, although his favorite person to prank was Wu Fei, much to the Chinese boy's disgust. I was a close second. He was a carefree individual that people were drawn to, and acted on his emotions when it came to his "family", of which I was now a part of. I just couldn't find it in myself to hate him, although I dreaded the day that he would meet my soldier persona.

Wu Fei was easily the most serious of the group, other than myself. He was calm, collected, and very devoted to his heritage. He was also very proud and a very formidable opponent, as I had figured out when he invited me to spar with him sometime during the third week and continually invited me to play games of chess that more often than not ended on a tie. My soldier persona, I knew, would get along with him perfectly.

Trowa was…Trowa. There are few words to describe him: silent, strong, amazingly just. He was just there, and did his own thing. He didn't get in anybody's way and went out of his own way to help around the house. I believe I got along with him as well as I did with Wu Fei. He was the only other out of the four that I believe my soldier persona would get along with.

I honestly don't know what to think about Quatre. Whereas I was most obviously the leader of this little group, Quatre was the heart. He was kind and gentle and calm, and loathed unnecessary killing. The others strove to make him happy, even Duo. It took me a while to get used to his mothering tendencies and soft spoken words. I knew that the soldier would find him unacceptable until Quatre proved that he could fight and win, but I also knew that this boy's kind actions, words, and the occasional soothing wave he emitted would calm the soldier in any situation. It made me nervous.

Wing showed up near the end of the seventh week and a blip from J triggered me into standby mode. Quatre was the first to notice my change in moods, and was quick to corner me before Duo could get to me. "What's wrong?"

"J triggered me." I said calmly. Quatre's eyes wrinkled as if worried. "It's only standby mode." I explained. "I cannot show as many feeling like this, and I will act differently. It means there is a mission coming."

"I see. Will you be all right around Duo?" He asked. I relaxed a bit, as much as standby mode would allow actually, as he sent out a soothing wave.

"Warn him for me? I'll try not to be…" I struggled for the right words. Another thing about this mode I did not like. It made me speak oddly and rather formally.

"I understand."

"Also warn the others that I might be triggered into my soldier mode at any time. You should know when I am." He nodded. "I'll probably be a little groggy as it happens. It's a kink that J hasn't worked out yet. I might be dangerous until I realize what happened and my soldier mode is firmly in place."

"Okay."

"I'm also going to…apologize….in advance for anything that might happen." I was saved from one of Quatre's 'its okay we know you didn't mean it' lectures when a large black object came hurtling out the door.

"Is that…?"

"Duo." I confirmed, rather annoyed, as a large panther raced towards us. There was what looked to be a sword hilt in his mouth.

"Is that….?"

"Wu Fei's katana." I confirmed as Wu Fei himself burst out of the front door. Trowa followed, his visible eye wide in worry.

"Maxwell! I'm going to kill you if you don't bring that back!" Duo-panther swerved and began to run in circles around us, Wu Fei not far behind. I narrowed my eyes and Quatre giggled at the display.

"Relax Heero, they're just having fun." Quatre found his voice, and must have noticed my agitation. "They do this a lot."

"I know, it's just…"

"You're programming is kicking in. It's okay. Do you think it'll help if I told you there was a reason behind Duo's annoyances?" I turned to him curiously. "Duo hates the war, and the feelings it brings. When we first met he thought we were all too glum and troubled so he took it upon himself to make us laugh. It's how he helps us vent and deal, and it's how he does as well."

"Well that makes sense." I could feel the annoyance ebb away at the revelation. Then I turned back to the running pair to find that Duo had unfurled his wings and was now flapping around Wu Fei's head. Wu Fei was looking angry, but he was chuckling at the same time. Then the sword was dropped on his head and the glare was back.

"Ouch! That hurt Maxwell." The panther melded into the form of Duo, who grinned sheepishly.

"I thought you would catch it. You know, all those enhanced reflexes and all!" My collar, which was visible now most of the time, blipped and J's voice caught my attention.

"Vacation time is over." He rasped. "I have a mission for you." Sound faded into the background, Quatre's startled gasp went unheard by me, I felt the few emotions allowed in standby mode slip away. I focused my entire being on J and his instructions.

_Quatre POV_

Heero was right. I could sense it the moment he was triggered. The few emotions I had been picking up since his first triggering slipped away, and he blipped off my radar for about two minutes. When he blipped back on, I could barely feel him.

Duo landed beside me, wings still in view. Wu Fei joined him by my side, and Trowa took up position on my other side. They must have noticed Heero's sudden tenseness, and his sudden attention shift to the collar. We watched as he nodded and looked up. The familiar blue eyes that had once held some warmth and humanity, were blank.

"We have orders." He said in a cold tone. He glanced disapprovingly at Duo, who caught the hint and hid his wings, then gave me a thorough once over. "Zero Four and I are to infiltrate the base seventy miles from here. We leave now. The others are to follow about two hours behind with their Gundams. After Zero Four and I collect data, the base is to be destroyed."

"What are we looking for?" I asked, somewhat hesitantly. This new Heero was more than a little intimidating. He must have picked up on my discomfort because he glared at me.

"I will tell you on the way there. Go get into your mission uniform." He turned abruptly and stalked back to the house. I was in the house and changed not five minutes later. The others had gone to the cave where our Gundams were stashed. Heero was in the jeep by the time I was ready, and I hopped in next to him.

I barely had time to buckle my seatbelt before he floored the gas pedal and took off down the dirt path. I held on, wide-eyed and a little bit frightened as he sped down the narrow back roads. "How are we getting in!" I asked over the hum of the engine. He slowed down marginally so we could talk in comfort.

"You just follow my lead." He replied. "We really don't need two going in but J wanted you as backup." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. "You will be in charge of getting the data out and back to base."

"What are we looking for?"

"Schematics on a new mobile suit they're building there. We're taking their data and destroying any prototypes." I nodded. "We're also killing the designers and engineers."

"Why?" I asked.

"They know enough to retry. They have to be killed." He shot me an icy stare. "Sympathy and kindness has no place on a battlefield." I lowered my gaze and stayed silent until he parked the jeep a few miles from the base. "You are to follow me. Keep your weapon ready and eyes open. If someone sees you, shoot them before they can alert anyone else. And Zero Four, shoot to kill."

"I know." Heero nodded and pulled a gun, seemingly from out of no where. His black spandex shorts showed no hidden pockets and his tank top was revealing enough that I couldn't see any there either. I decided to save my questions for when soldier-Heero was gone.

"Lets go." I followed him as he picked his way through the brush. There was no sound as he moved, and I figured it was partly due to the animal genes. It was probably instinct to him. We made it into the base with no problems, and Heero managed to find the prototypes and I admit, they were pretty intimidating. Heero let out a soft grunt and moved on.

We met no soldiers as we made our way to the labs. It was a Sunday, and staff was normally reduced on Sundays, but I could sense Heero's unease. We reached our destination according to Heero, but instead of busting the doors open he turned to me. "You are an empath, use it to see how many are in there." He ordered. It's a good thing I knew how to detect different auras through emotions, because I don't think Heero took the possibility that I couldn't into account.

"Six." He nodded and without any warning to me, kicked the solid metal doors right in the center. They didn't give way but there was an impressive dent where his foot had connected. He gave a soft grunt and voices inside raised in alarm. It concerned me a little that he was using his recently healed foot to do the kicking, but didn't dare speak up as he raised said foot and kicked again.

"Who's there!" A panicked voice shouted. There was a small gap in the center of the dent, where the two doors met. Another kick and Heero seemed satisfied. There was now a small hole big enough to put both arms in.

"Someone call security!" Another voice shouted. I expected Heero to throw one of his smoke grenades in now, but he surprised me again my grabbing the edges of one door and pulling.

"Take the other side!" He said harshly as the door budged. I nodded and began to pull. The door didn't stand a chance between our combined strength and it was soon opened enough for us to slip in.

PING I ducked behind the doors as whoever inside opened fire. Heero cursed and fired back. There was a cry and a thump, I brought out my own gun.

"Try not to hit a computer." He said over the gunfire. "We need the data." I nodded and swung into the door way to fire off two shots. One caught a man in a white lab coat squarely in the chest and he went down. The other grazed an arm of the guy beside him, but he didn't go down.

I swung back and let Heero take a shot. Two screams and two thumps, he was good. I yelped as a bullet pinged by my ear and whirled around to open fire on the security guards who had just showed up. One went down and the others ducked behind a corner.

"Take care of them, I'll worry about the guys still in here." I nodded. It took several more minutes of gunfire before Heero pulled me into the room and managed to wedge the doors shut. There were only two of five guards left, but we only had moments before they would call backup.

Heero pushed aside bodies and settled himself at a computer. His fingers flew across the keys as he worked, pulling up blueprint designs and notes. They were all copied to a disk, which was handed to me. I put it in a special, hidden pocket in my pants. Heero inserted another disk that made the computer flash multicolored lights. A virus. Then he ejected the disk, shot out of the chair, then shot the computer to bits.

"What was the virus for?"

"If anyone made any copies, the virus'll find them and crash the system and destroy the copies." He then proceeded to shot all of the mechanical equipment in the room until it was barely recognizable. "Let's go." I nodded.

We took the guards, who were waiting for backup to arrive, by surprise. We shot through the doors with our guns firing. The two guards didn't stand a chance. Duo would have loved this. IT just made me sick.

We made our way out of the base and into the safety of the forest just as an armored car with the reinforcements arrived. Heero paused on our way to the jeep and turned back to the base. We could barely see it through the trees but I could see the lumbering forms of Nataku, Deathscythe, and Heavyarms as they crashed into the base and began to open fire.

"Nimnu Kanryou."

TBC


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

_Quatre POV_

The mission was a complete success. Soldier-Heero seemed convinced that I could pull my weight, and was silent until we got to the safe house. The disk I had been given was taken back and he transferred the info to J. But he wasn't triggered.

"How's your ankle?" I asked once he shut down the computer.

"Hn."

"Can I see?" He twirled around in the chair and stuck out the foot in question. I carefully peeled off his shoe and sock, and then poked around. "Not broken, but you should put some ice on it."

"Not needed. It'll heal by morning." By that time the others had returned and Duo was the first to enter.

"Ah! Nothing like a good mission to brighten your day! Ne, Heero?" Heero was giving Duo an incredulous look that almost made me laugh. "Ne, Heero. You awake in there?" He was about to wave a hand in front of Heero's face but I pulled him back.

"Duo, I wouldn't." I warned. Duo tilted his head at me, then at Heero.

"Ah, still soldier-boy then?" Heero's eyebrow twitched.

"Duo…" I turned to Heero. "Don't mind him." I said nervously.

"Yeah, I could make a living getting on people's nerves. It's what I do." Heero nodded, although he still looked pissed, and I figured that even though the personalities were different, the memories were the same. He remembered my explanation on Duo's behavior.

"If only they had a job for you, you'd be rich." Wu Fei commented from the doorway. He nodded to Heero, who nodded back.

"Sure would be!" Duo agreed. "Now what's for dinner?" He turned his gaze to me and I gave him a hopeless look. "Missions always make me hungry."

"Everything always makes you hungry." Trowa said from behind Wu Fei. Duo playfully stuck his tongue out at my lover and I giggled.

"I'm a growing boy, and I need food. Who's makin'?" As usual, I was the first one to cave. Heero retreated to his room, and I to the kitchen to begin making a light dinner. Heero didn't join us, even though I called up for him. Duo was a little disappointed. We all were: We had all gotten use to Heero's presence over the past several weeks. But we could all understand. This Heero wasn't programmed to interact. Which made me wonder why J hadn't triggered the other Heero back.

"It does seem odd." Trowa must have read my mind.

"J should know about Duo and his quirks, and should know that Heero in this mode will not abide him." Wu Fei pointed out. Duo spluttered angrily, but silently agreed. "So why doesn't he trigger him?"

"Unless he's planning another mission?" Duo said around a mouthful of food. I blinked.

"So soon?" I asked dubiously.

"Not unlikely. This was a pretty easy mission." Trowa said thoughtfully. "There is nothing we can do either way. Besides, it's best to get used to this Heero as well." He spoke the truth.

"I like the other one better." Duo pouted. "The other one laughed once and a while. I have a feeling that this one won't." I smiled. Then a light shone in his violet eyes and I groaned.

"Duo, whatever you're planning…."

"Don't do it." Wu Fei finished. "It's not safe, whatever it is."

"You don't know what I'm gonna do….." Duo spluttered.

"I know what you're NOT going to do." I spoke up. He pouted. "It's nothing against you, I'm sure you mean well. But he's just not the kind of person that will take kindly to that." I explained softly.

"I wasn't going to prank him or anything." Duo said unhappily. He finished his dinner silently, pouting. I could feel his unhappiness and knew it was because we didn't trust him. It made me frown. Before I could apologize he stood up, put his plate in the sink, then left the kitchen.

I sighed and kicked at a rock, watching it as it bounced a little before kitting a tree root and stopping. "Why don't they trust me? I'm not that bad." I mumbled. "Sure I play jokes on them, but I know my limit. I know Heero, well this Heero, wouldn't tolerate my jokes."

"Who are you talking to?" I nearly had a heart attack at the soft spoken voice, and whirled around to see Heero leaning against a tree. He was wearing the same spandex shorts he had on before, but his shirt was no where in sight.

"Uhm…myself?"

"That's the first sign of insanity." He said seriously. I blinked. Then burst out laughing.

"You sure are something Heero." I said between giggles. He pushed off the tree and made his way over. He didn't have any shoes on either. The cold look I had seen in his eyes before the mission was still there, but it had softened. I guess that even the soldier relaxed when no missions were in progress. "What're you doing out here anyway?" I asked.

"Running." I looked skeptically at his bare feet. Bare feet that were suddenly elongating and sprouting fur. I looked up at his face in surprise; only watch him fall to all fours. I watched in fascination as he transformed in front of me for the second time since we'd met. And let me tell you, the animal I saw before me was impressive.

The dip of his back just reached my waist, which made his shoulders and head level with my belly button. His face was narrow like a wolfs, but the muzzle was shorter. His ears were rounded a little at the tip. One stuck straight up and the other sort of flopped, which I found cute.

His neck was thickly muscled like a large cats, but thin and long. His shoulders were wider than a wolfs but narrower than a large cats. His legs were thick, but long, and his paws were huge (Which suggested that he was still growing….damn) and his tail was thick and nearly long enough to brush the ground.

His fur was odd. Like his hair, it was wild and unkept. The fur along most of his body was only a little but longer than that of a large cats. There were patches here and there that were longer. His underbelly and chest had hair as long and as thick as a wolfs. There were also small tufts on the backs of each ankle, and a thin ridge of hair along his spine from forehead to tail. The underside of his tail also had longer hair.

"You're filthy pal." I said as I studied the fur matted with burrs, leaves, mud, and blood. "When was the last time you cleaned yourself in this form?" Lips lifted to reveal pearly white teeth, and he turned his back on me. "I was just asking!" He looked over his shoulder, then back at the woods. "You want me to come?" His oddly shapen head nodded.

I grinned and stripped my shirt off in one fluid motion. Then I began to change into my panther form. Heero watched me with some interest until I was completely transformed. thanks for asking me to join I said to him as I stretched.

just don't get in my way He said with a twitch of one ear – the floppy one. I grinned at him and loped over to him to lick his nose. His ears flattened and he squatted back in surprise.

I won't He shook off the shock and loped away, tail held high. I followed him for a ways, sniffing around curiously until he suddenly took off. I followed him at a calmer pace as he weaved around trees and over fallen logs. Finally we came to a stop by a small stream.

swim time! I announced happily, wading into the chilly water. Heero sat on the bank, watching with narrowed eyes. don't you like to swim? I asked. The dirt I had collected during our run fell off in the water, and when I climbed out I was clean.

not really I tilted my head and moved closer to him. He didn't move away, so I began to lick the water off my fur.

not even to get clean?

why bother? I'll just get dirty again I snorted as the last of the water was licked off. Then I stalked over to him and plopped down within reach. what are you doing? I didn't answer. Instead I leaned foreword and licked a path from the tip of his nose to the spot between his ears, ignoring the flinch. He jerked back as if burnt.

hold still I commanded. He growled at me, ears pinned in irritation. if you won't get in the water, then I'LL clean you

you'll do no such thing! He sounded offended and jumped away when I went to lick him again. I watched him stand several inches out of my reach. how…what….

oh, sit back down and let me? Or get in the water You have to get the blood and mud – hey that rhymed! – off before your skin gets irritated His ears swiveled. Then he slowly made his way back over to me, ears and tail drooping in displeasure. it's not bad you'll like it

no I wont I chuffed as he sat in front of me again. Man, his dislike of water in this form must be horrible for him to allow me to lick him clean! He was stiff as a board as I started to gently clean his face. He kept his eyes closed as I licked my way over his muzzle, around his chin, over his ears, down his neck, and around his shoulder. It tasted as if he hadn't been clean in this form for a long time, and I had to stop every so often to get a drink of water and hack up a few hairballs.

from now on, you're cleaning this form at LEAST once a week I said as I worked the burrs and twigs out of the thick mane along his spine and out of his tail. Finally, the top half of my comrade was as clean as I could get him without shampoo and a brush. okay on your back

what! He whirled to face me, stiffening up again.

I have to get the burrs out of the hair on your belly His ears flattened, but he lay down and rolled onto his side. I gently began to pull the burrs out and smooth the fine hairs. Mud was licked away too. Finally I was finished, except one small – actually, not so small – part. you can finish up right?

yes If an animal could blush, he would have. I turned away with a chuckle as he finished grooming himself. I can say that I've never made a bigger mistake than just then. Two minutes after turning around I found myself sprawled in the shallows of the river, Heero behind me. Laughing as only a wolf/panther hybrid could.

gah! I just dried myself off I complained. When I managed to crawl out, I shook hard enough to spray him with tiny droplets. He growled at me, but I ignored him in favor of licking myself dry again.

we should get back He said once I'd finished. It was getting dark, and Quatre was sure to worry once he realized we were both gone. So I followed Heero back through the woods. His fur still looked dirty and matted in places, but the mud and blood were both gone. It was a start.

We made it back to the house to find all the lights on. I could see Quatre pacing in the kitchen window and bound foreword. I knocked the door open and nearly lost my footing on the tiles. Quatre let out a squeak as I slammed into the cabinets. Heero was watching from the door, smirking.

I transformed only to be leapt on by Quatre, who hugged me with all his strength. I think he broke a rib. "Whoa Q-ball. What's wrong?"

"You! I go to your room to find you gone! Heero too! Then I saw your shirt out on the grass! We couldn't find you!" Now he was shaking me.

"I was out with Heero!" Quatre started looking me over, probably for any injuries. "It's okay, we went for a run." Quatre sighed.

"Well next time let me know." He climbed off of me and helped me up. Heero had disappeared, probably up to his room.

"It was a spur of the moment thing. Sorry."

"So, you ran with Heero?" Quatre asked. He was smiling.

"Yeah. He's an okay guy, I guess. He even made a funny before we went!" Quatre giggled. "He's filthy though. His fur is matted and dirty. When the other Heero comes back we have to make him let us give him a bath!"

"Okay." Quatre agreed with a small laugh.

TBC

Note: Anything in between the is animal speech. IE how animals talk to each other (body language, sounds, etc)


	8. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

_Wu Fei POV_

It was going to be a long week, I could feel it. Heero had yet to revert to the calm, almost soft boy he had been for the past several weeks. Instead he stayed the soldier, who seemed intent upon wearing himself out by training or working on the gundam he treasured. Any interruptions warranted a gun in the face, and an angry soldier yelling himself hoarse and glaring until his face hurt. Apparently a bored soldier is not a nice soldier. With no missions and no reason to keep Heero as a soldier, I wonder quite often: Was J TRYING to kill us off?

I think the whole soldier trigger hurt Quatre the most. He was troubled when he couldn't feel any of us, and Heero's training consisted of blocking out Quatre's empathy. Unable to feel him, Quatre seemed to make up for it by not letting the Wing pilot out of his sight. Heero, for the most part, ignored the small blond. When he was being quiet and stayed out of the Wing pilot's way.

"Wu Fei!" I blinked out of my meditation to find Quatre in the doorway, worry etched on his face. I knew that look….. "Have you seen Heero?"

"Quatre, the guy's a soldier. He is capable of taking care of himself." I sighed. But Quatre wouldn't be dissuaded. He was quite stubborn when he wanted to be – mainly when dealing with who he deemed his friends.

"Could you help me look for him?" He pleaded. How could I say no to such a pathetic look? Trowa wasn't the only one who had a soft spot for the boy……

"Fine, but if he shoots me for bothering him I am coming back to haunt you." I warned. Quatre giggled nervously and I sighed. I followed him halfheartedly around the house. I wasn't worried about Heero. Quatre shouldn't be either. I told him so and got a hurt look in return.

We ended up finding Heero in the cave with the Gundams. He was scrunched up in one of Wing's knee joints, wrench in hand. Grease and dirt covered his body, and he had little tears in his tank top. "Heero!" I heard a curse, and saw Heero jerking his hand away to stick his thumb in his mouth. The wrench came tumbling down, nearly landing on my head.

"Itai! K'so!"

"Heero? You okay?" Quatre called up. Heero stuck his head out and glared down at us. He somehow looked less intimidating with smudges of grease on his face.

"I was until you came along." I saw Quatre flinch. Heero's eyes widened as Quatre turned a pitiful gaze up at him. It seemed like the great soldier didn't know how to deal with a sad Quatre, just like the rest of us. I smirked as he sighed and forcibly soften his glare.

"Gomen Quatre. I didn't mean to snap." The apology looked painful, but Quatre brightened. "Now what do you want?"

"I couldn't find you." Quatre said, as if it explained everything. Which I suppose it did. Heero scowled. "You know I can't feel you, so why didn't you tell me where you were going?"

"It's none of your business where I go and what I do." Quatre looked hurt for a moment before plowing on. I decided to stay and act as a referee in case things got out of hand.

"Heero you're my comrade and, I'd hope, my friend. I like to know that you're safe. Just like the others." Heero pulled himself out of the knee joint.

"You don't follow them around." He dropped down and snatched the wrench up from where it had landed.

"I can feel them." Quatre said, touching his chest. "I know that they're okay. If you could lower your blocks enough for me to…"

"No." Heero scaled his Gundam's leg and squeezed back into the joint. Quatre huffed, but planted himself by Wing's foot. I took my leave of the pair and retreated back into the house. Only to find Duo waiting for me. I sighed.

"Q-ball and Heero going at it again?" He asked. I nodded and settled into the couch. Duo perched on the arm of a recliner. "When do you think he'll be triggered again?"

"Hopefully soon. He's an exceptional soldier, but he's a taxing civilian. More so than you." Duo grinned. "I am also getting tired of the arguments between him and Quatre." Duo nodded.

"Poor Quatre. He's going apeshit because he can't sense Heero. Then with Heero not letting him through…." I nodded, agreeing, although I would not have used such vulgar terms. "I think Trowa's suffering for it too." Duo said. "Quat's spending less time with him as he tries to keep tabs on Heero. It a wonder Quat doesn't sense him."

"I never thought of that. But what can we do about it?"

"Short of calling J? Absolutely nothing." The mere thought of coming into contact with the man responsible for Heero's upbringing and our genetic mutations made me cringe. I could see Duo cringe at the thought as well.

"What are you so somber about?" I looked up to see Trowa making his way down the stairs. He must have been up on his computer.

"Heero." Duo said. Trowa nodded.

"Quatre's with him again?" His voice was calm.

"You mad?" Duo asked tentatively.

"No. I understand. Quatre needs to know we're all okay, and since he can sense us and not Heero…..it's only logical that he spend time with Heero." His logic was astounding. By the look on Duo's face, he expected Trowa to be upset over his lovers new interest. "Heero and I have a mission together. We leave tomorrow morning."

_Heero POV_

When J bleeped me I was still working on one of the joints in Wing's knee, and much like when Quatre had distracted me I wrenched my thumb and dropped the tool. And I cursed, forgetting that my line was open.

"What was that Zero One?" I froze.

"Nothing sir." I heard a snort. "Do you have orders?"

"I do. You and Zero Three are to take your Gundams to point…" He rattled off latitude and longitude. "The base there got their hands on some of my data via spy. I need you to recover it and destroy the base. Everyone in there must be eliminated."

"Ryoukai."

"When you retrieve the data, send it via your Gundam and then destroy the disk."

"Hai."

"You will leave in the morning." He bleeped out and I squeezed out of Wing's knee. Quatre had disappeared momentarily and I sighed in relief as I leapt down to the floor. I kicked the wrench in the general direction of the tool boxes. It clattered against one with a bang.

"Heero?" I almost groaned as Quatre poked his head around his Gundams foot. "Are you finished?"

"Mission." He blinked and I quickly walked out of the cave. I could hear Quatre scramble around in an attempt to pick up my mess, but was in the house before he was finished. Trowa was in the living room with Duo and Wu Fei. All three looked up when I entered.

"Were you notified?"

"Hai. I'm getting ready now, you should as well. We'll leave before the sun comes up." I heard Duo choke in surprise, even though he wasn't the one leaving n the morning, as I retreated to my room.

I booted up my computer and proceeded to gather as much information about the base as I could: security rounds, security features, personnel, guards, soldiers, mecha, types of mecha, building blueprints exits and entrances, possible number of rooms, weaponry, lab information, the works. Within two hours I knew the base inside and out.

I packed a small duffel bag with clothing - enough to last me for days. That bag was stuffed into the corner of a second, larger bag. This one could easily fit a person inside, if they were bent and stuffed right. I loaded this bag with enough pre-made c4 bombs and detonators to blow up a small colony.

I gently placed the bag by my door and shut down my computer. It was only seven, but I toed off my shoes and fell onto my bed. If I was going to get up as early as I had told Trowa, I would need to sleep now. Unfortunately sleep would not come at that time. Duo made sure of that.

"Heero?" I let out a little growl as Duo poked his head in. "You need any help getting ready?" I bit back the rude comment I was ready to make. "Oh, you're already in bed?"

"I DO have to get up early." I replied, sitting up. I pushed the light covers down and crossed my legs. He invited himself the rest of the way in, but didn't move to join me on the bed.

"Is the mission going to be hard?" He asked, leaning against the wall. Gone was the joker I knew, replaced by a serious soldier. I was impressed.

"No harder than the one you and I went on."

"We had backup." I tilted my head. "You and Trowa will be alone."

"Don't concern yourself over it. It's a simple infiltrate then destroy. We'll be done in three days time." Duo was silent. "Is that all?"

"I just wanted to hang." Duo said with a shrug. "Q and Tro are busy and Wu Fei is meditating. I'm bored."

"So work on your Gundam." I said in annoyance.

"Deathscythe is all up to date and in one big shiny piece." I raised an eyebrow at him. "He doesn't need to be working on. And there's nothing to do on the computer, and nothing to watch on TV."

"That's not my fault."

"Humor me? One game?" I glanced up to see a pack of cards in one of his hands. I frown. "Your choice, providing I know how to play." I sighed in defeat and he grinned. I braced myself as he hopped onto my bed. "Thanks! I'll leave you be after this."

"You better." I chose rummy. A simple, easy to play, quick game that didn't involve betting or gambling of any kind. From the look on Duo's face, he was expecting me to choose a game like poker.

We played. The game took longer than I thought it would, and Duo was a fierce player. He had no poker face to save his life though, and I couldn't wait to challenge him to a game – when I had more time. He eventually accepted defeat gracefully and gathered the cards back into their box.

"Thanks for the game. Maybe sometime we can play poker?" I nodded. "And maybe sometime I can take a brush to your fur?"

"Don't push your luck." I growled. He grinned and shrugged, but I could identify the determined glint in his eyes as he left. I knew I was a goner when he finally decided to 'take a brush to' my fur.

Duo left as promised and I settled back into my bed, which was now warmed by our combined body heat. It was now nine. I turned the lights of and slept.

TBC

A bit shorter than the others, but not terribly.


	9. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

_Trowa POV_

Morning came and I groaned as a sharp rap on the door announced Heero's impatience. I turned my head to the clock – 4 A.M.. I forced myself up, shushing Quatre as he stirred, and got out of the warm bed. I was sorely tempted to return to it, but I didn't really want to deal with a pissed off Heero Yuy.

"Trowa?" I buttoned my jeans and pulled a gun out of the closet.

"Mission. Go back to sleep." I said, tucking the gun in the waistband of my jeans. As I pulled my shirt over my head I heard a rustling behind me. Small hands snaked around my waist and a small head rested between my shoulder blades.

"Be careful?" I lowered my hands to hold his.

"Always." I promised. He let go and retreated back to bed. Seconds later he was sound asleep, and I was on my way out the door. Heero was in the hallway, waiting. "I'm ready."

"Food?"

"There's some in the jeep. I'll eat as we move." He nodded and pushed away from the wall. I followed him past Duo and Wu Fei's rooms, and then down through the kitchen and out the door. It didn't surprise me that neither were up.

The jeep was parked next to the house, under a camo net. Heero pulled it off with one sweep and hopped into the drivers side. I raised an eyebrow at him but didn't comment – it wasn't as if we were driving through towns where we could get pulled over. At the moment he didn't look at all like a fourteen year old boy, but I doubted he had a fake ID.

"I'll park four miles from the base. It's as close as we can get without being seen." I nodded and pulled a nutrients bar out of the glove compartment. "We need to get inside and get to the computer base room. You'll be my lookout while we move, and while I get the information." I nodded. "You'll be in charge of placing most of the bombs as we go."

"Okay."

"When I get the information, we sweep through on our way out. Eliminate everybody we come into contact with or see. Then we blow the place." I nodded and held on as Heero sped over a bump. "After the blast we'll go back in and destroy everything that hasn't already been."

"Any particular reason for this?"

"They have something J doesn't want them to have. He wants them all dead."

"That seems personal." I said calmly. Heero's jaw clenched. He knew as well as I that we were not supposed to be used for personal vendettas.

"He didn't tell me what they have, but I'm guessing it has to do with the genetic experiments and my training."

"I see." Now that didn't sound so personal. The rest of the drive, which lasted for roughly four hours, was silent. I made sure my weapons were ready for use, and I divided the bombs Heero had brought between us. After parking the jeep and covering it, he managed to find someplace on him to hide the bombs. Which made me stare wide-eyed at him – he was only wearing a pair of tight spandex shorts and a loose-fitting tank top!

"Snap to it!" He snapped when he caught me staring. I blinked, but offered no apology. He grunted. "Let's move." I followed him through the brush, crouching low and carefully stepping around rocks and twigs.

Heero was silent as a grave. He made no noise as he walked, and seemed to melt into the shadows. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that he was part wolf AND part panther. It impressed me, I admit.

We stopped when we reached the edge of one of the main buildings. Heero was glancing around, and when I followed his gaze I realized that he was scouting out the cameras. And watch towers, of which there were few. "This base is small. It's used for small scale research." Heero explained under his breath.

"Why does J think that someone here has his data?" I asked.

"The spy's name is in this base's database. He's one of the understudies of a head scientist. Besides, where else would be a good place to conduct illegal research?" He had a point. "Let's go. Stay right behind me." I nodded and he took off running towards the side door. I followed inches behind him and breathed only when we were safely inside.

A little hole in the wall opposite me was the first hiding place for a small bomb. Then we were off down the corridors, placing small bombs every hundred feet or so. Once we'd thoroughly scoured every corner of the small building, Heero raced off to the next.

There were four small to medium sized buildings in all. All of them held various weapon prototypes or computers packed with data that Heero 'borrowed' before planting a time sensitive virus. Rigging all four buildings took a total of five hours. We were running short on our time limit – which was really just a time we set to outline our safe zone.

The final building was obviously the main building, and Heero slowed his pace drastically when we reached it. He took his time to pick his way inside, then took some more time to glance around. He motioned me foreword and closed the door behind me.

We were much more careful in placing the bombs as we walked. We had to dodge several scientists and guards along the way, before we finally made it to each end of the pentagon shaped building. Heero seemed satisfied as he led me to the main computer room.

It was amazing to watch him work. He was careful, precise, agile, and very intelligent. He was, as the other Heero had said, a "perfect Soldier". He was also cold as death while working a mission.

I stood back and let him work on the locks to the main lab. According to him, and the schedules he 'found' online, the building was going to be deserted as the scientists and most of the guards retreated to the cafeteria building for lunch. The doors swooshed open and everything went to hell….

_Heero POV_

The scientists had been waiting for us. How could I have been so stupid! I should have known that anything stolen from J would have been kept under lock and key and guarded by as many soldiers as there were available. The security would have been tighter.

The guns they aimed and fired were loaded with painful blanks that broke skin, but didn't bury deep. Yet others were obviously dart guns. I saw Trowa take a blank with a grunt, and I fired back at the perpetrator. He fell like a sack of lead.

"Don't kill them!" I heard a voice scream. I caught a brief glance of a middle-aged man in a smock. "We need them alive!" My thoughts were confirmed – they wanted to put us through tests. They wanted to know what made us tick. Apparently the files stolen from J intrigued him.

Trowa fell behind me, a dart firmly embedded in the small of his back. I moved to stand over him, still firing. My luck soon ran out, and I felt the prick of a dart in my neck. I growled and fell, blackness swallowing me.

When I woke I didn't bother to mask the fluctuation in my heartbeat or breathing. These scientists needed nothing else to intrigue them. I opened my eyes and took in my surroundings.

I was in a cell, half slumped against a wall. My wrists were shackled above me. I could feel cuffs around each ankle, although only one was attached to a chain, which was attached to a hook on the wall. My shirt had been torn off, and electrodes were pasted to my chest and my forehead.

Trowa was across from me, although only his wrists were cuffed. They must not have seen him as much of a threat. Stupid of them. He was awake and watching me. "Did we fail?" He asked, only his lips moving.

"No. We've just been….detained. We're still in the same place as far as I can tell." I responded. "And from what I've heard they don't want to hurt us."

"No, they just want to study us."

"It could be worse." I lipped just as the door swooshed open to admit the man that had been barking out orders before. I stared at him.

"I hope you're comfortable boys." He said, setting a clipboard down on a metal table. "You'll be here a while I'm afraid. You'll be quite busy." He made his way over to me, and knelt down in front of me. "You especially will be busy. I have many questions I hope you can answer."

"No, I don't know if the love of your life is near." I retorted. Trowa let out a laugh disguised as a cough. The man smiled.

"Pity. I so wanted to meet her." A had raised and ghosted along my cheek. I flinched away and he smiled wider. "Anyway, I just came to introduce myself. I'm afraid I have other plans."

"That's too bad." I said as he stood. He left the room without another word, and I snorted. "Whatever you do, do not give them what they want." I said to Trowa. "Annoy them. Even if it doesn't look like they're annoyed…."

"That's a very Duo way to do things."

"It puts them off their guard." I shrugged and wriggled my wrists. Simple steel. Easy to break. "Will you be able to break these?" I asked.

"Yes." He nodded.

"Good. Just follow my lead then. We won't be escaping until I've had the chance to study the lab."

"How?"

"They'll take me there after a while, to do experiments. I'll be able to make assessments." Trowa nodded. I settled in my bindings. "Until then, get rest. We'll need all the strength we have."

TBC


	10. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

_Trowa POV_

Even though he was cool about it, I could tell that as days passed Heero became more and more nervous. So far the odd doctor had only visited once. Others came to draw blood from both of us, and Heero made their job hell. I was impressed, watching him as he twisted and thrashed. Many doctors limped away near tears. The lucky ones walked away with bruises and bite marks.

"Why do you fight?" I asked him after one session.

"Because I enjoy making their job hard. It doesn't use up much energy." He replied. The spot on his arm where they had draw blood was bruised. If it hurt, he didn't show it. "Besides, I learned a few things from it." He smirked.

"Did you now?"

"Their boss is called Marsh. He knows J from school, and has been interested in his work for a long time. He's also not a fan of us pilots. He wanted to be the one to 'create' us." I blinked.

"You got all that from them?"

"They curse under their breath. I just put the pieces together." I smirked. "I've also gathered that he would prefer not to use violence, which is why the doctors so far have been…gentle. But several are close to just saying 'screw it'." I blinked again.

"Are we in danger?"

"Not for now." But then Marsh himself appeared. The scowl on his face made me frown in concern, but his attention was on Heero. He had a small package in one hand that I recognized as a syringe and needle pack.

Heero watched the man calmly as he slowly began to assemble a syringe filled with a clear fluid. I cringed at the size of the needle. Only Heero's eyes showed his sudden unease. "You've been quite the little rebel." He capped the needle and put it in his breast pocket. "Not letting the good doctors do their job."

"I don't like needles." Heero deadpanned. I was starting to like this side of the soldier. Marsh was starting to dislike him, I could tell.

"You'll just have to get over that then, won't you?" Heero tilted his head in a mocking manner. "Think of it as an order."

"I don't take orders from you." That hit a sore spot judging by the scowl on the man's face, and I was convinced that Heero's previous assessment of the man's desire to be the one in control of us…or at least him….were dead on.

"No, you don't do you? J made sure that you would only obey him like a mindless drone." Heero smiled. It made my blood turn.

"I am not a mindless drone. I am talking to you aren't I?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Heero shrugged. "No matter. When I am through with you J will be but a distant memory." Somehow, I highly doubted that. Heero thought it funny enough to warrant a small chuckle. "J will lose his weapon and I will gain the power to control OZ and the Alliance." He said in a wistful tone.

"Does this guy eat crack for breakfast?" I mouthed to Heero, who smirked. The man shook himself out of his stupor and plucked the syringe out of his pocket.

"Your blood work is most amazing." He revealed. "It shows me that J was successful in mutating certain genes. Your astounding chemical levels prove that. But it intrigues me that you have animal blood in there." He said to Heero. "And you both have something else that I can't quite put my finger on."

"I bet there's a lot you can't put your finger on." Heero said. I caught the double meaning, and so did Marsh. He lifted a corner of his lip and scowled.

"I realize that you will not willingly show me what I want to see. So I put together a routine that will weaken your barriers. I'll force you to show me. Unfortunately J's notes on you told me nothing." I could see the relief in Heero's eyes, but then they hardened as Marsh stepped closer. "They are all in a language I can't understand. I have translators working on it so don't get too comfortable."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Heero said. All talking ceased as Marsh entered Heero's little space bubble. I watched in interest as the scientist knelt down in front of Heero. I could see Heero's legs tense in preparation although the rest of his body stayed lax. Marsh had no time to react as Heero's leg lashed out and struck him in the ribcage, sending him toppling to the side with a curse.

"Stupid." I muttered. Heero nodded and settled back as Marsh pushed to his feet.

"That wasn't very nice."

"I told you, I don't like needles." I watched in silence as a fierce battle of wits began between the two of them. Marsh fought hard to get past Heero's barriers, and Heero fought hard to keep him away. So far it was a draw.

"I don't like fighting dirty." Marsh growled, clearly frustrated. "But if I must…" He pulled a small remote out of his pocket and pushed one of the buttons. There was a screeching sound and suddenly the hook that held the ankle restraint shot up the wall….bringing Heero's foot with it.

Heero let out a little yelp as his foot was jerked up, and was dragged up until it was well over his head – leaving him practically upside down. "That's better." Heero let out a growl as the man managed to capture his other ankle and hold it still. I winced as the needle was jabbed into the fleshy part of his rear.

"K'so!" The man stepped back and Heero was lowered back to the ground with a thump. Heero cursed the man in Japanese for a while before whatever was in the syringe kicked in. The curses trailed off and his eyes glazed over.

"Good. I had been hoping the dosage was strong enough." The chains were removed from the cuffs around Heero's wrists and ankle and I watched as he slumped over. Marsh smirked victoriously then left. Once the door was closed, Heero pushed himself up.

"Heero?"

"The drugs are strong." He wheezed. "I'll be able to fight them off, but it'll take a day or two." I nodded in understanding. "Trowa, if he breaks those files you have to kill me."

"What!" I hissed.

"If he breaks those files, he'll be able to reprogram me and control me. You can't let that happen!" I frowned, but nodded at his persistent stare. "Good." He slumped against the wall and closed his eyes. I closed mine as well, and when I opened them Heero was gone.

_Duo POV_

I was worried. Yeah, me, Shinigami, God of Death, was worried. Heero and Trowa had left six days ago for a mission that was, according to Trowa, supposed to be simple. It was apparent that he was way wrong.

"We should do something." I said as I pushed some chicken around on my plate.

"We can't." Quatre said patiently. "Not when there's a chance that we could blow their cover." Damn Wu had to agree with him. "But if they don't get back soon we'll contact J and see if he knows what's going on."

"Knowing him, he probably does." I grumbled moodily, just as the warning bell on Quatre's laptop began to flash. Quatre rushed to the machine and went wide eyed. "Quat?"

"It's from J!" He gasped, and then began to read out loud. "Attention Gundam Pilots. I sent zero one and zero three on a search, recover, then destroy mission six days ago. They have not contacted me and it is my greatest fear that they have been captured. I need you all to go to…" A series of numbers were rattled off. "…and recover them ASAP. The man in charge of the laboratory is one of my old school mates and is hell bent on retaining the use of Soldier for himself. This must not happen!" Quatre paused and shot me a horrified look. "We're to go and finish Heero and Trowa's mission, and get them out of there. Duo, if they've succeeded in reprogramming Heero we're supposed to kill him!"

"No fucking way!" I swore. "Come on then, we'll get to them before they can do anything to Heero. Or Trowa."

_Trowa POV_

It was very disconcerting to watch. The doctors had returned with Heero hours after taking him. He was hanging in between them, limp. His eyes were wide open and vacant. His mouth was open, he was panting. His clothes were ripped.

They hauled him over to the metal table, and one of the doctors pushed a few buttons that made the table swivel around and tilt so that it was almost horizontal to the floor. Heero was roughly slapped against it and his wrists were secured to the metal strips the forced him to hold them out, almost up next to his head.

While one tightened the wrist straps and began to bind his uppers arms, chest, torso, upper legs, then ankles, the other hooked a short chain to the metal collar around Heero's neck. Heero's head lolled foreword as much as he chain would allow.

Various IV's were connected to Heero and drip bags– one held a clear fluid, another held a milky colored fluid - and electrodes were stuck harshly all over his body. Those hooked up to various machines. Most of them I didn't recognize. The table was left as it was, and the doctors left.

"Heero?" I ventured. I saw his body flinch, but his eyes remained open and vacant. That was not good. "Heero, fight it. Wake up." Blues eyes cleared.

"S-sorry. T-the drugs are…." Pain flashed through his eyes. "T-too str-strong…."

"Okay. I'll find a way to get us out of here. You just concentrate on fighting. Don't give in." He nodded. Then he slumped in his bindings and his eyes closed. I sighed and shifted, testing the metal cuffs. "Steel. I should be able to break these." I said to myself.

I worked on the cuffs, until I finally managed to crack them. I smiled. But I was too late. The doctors returned and took Heero away again. He didn't even fight them this time as he was untied and dragged out of the room. I cursed.

"Hang in there." I whispered as I finally freed my hands. My wrists were bleeding, but I ignored it as I ran over to the door. "Shit." The door was an automatic industrial sort, with no handles on the inside. Only a punch pad that was locked.

I stood there for god only knows how long before I heard the most curious thing. Gunshots. And screaming. I stepped away from the door as footsteps stopped outside of it. "Trowa? Heero? If you're in there, stay away from the door. I'm gonna blow it!"

"Duo!" I said in relief. There was a loud bang and the doors slid open. "It's about time…." I said.

"Is Heero in there?" He asked.

"No. We have to get to him. Marsh has already begun trying to break him." Duo looked alarmed as I took off into the empty hall. "Do you know where the main lab is?" I asked as I halted.

"Yes. This way." I followed Duo down a hall. I could hear gunshots far away. "Quat and Wu are scattered. We're on our own for now." I nodded. We came to a stop in from of a heavily locked door. "Stand away from the door!" Duo shouted. "I'm blowin' it!" Duo placed a small C4 bomb right in the center and pushed the button. He handed me a small machine gun and we stepped back.

The door blew and we leapt inside, guns pointed into the room. Several scientist were out of their chairs and facing us, hands held high, looks of fright on their faces. I couldn't see Marsh. Duo rounded the men up and unloaded a round into the group. They all dropped and Duo bent to make sure they were dead.

I ran over to the large plexi-glass window and looked in and down. My eyes widened in horror. Marsh was standing at the foot of a large metal table. He had a remote control device in one hand, and hadn't noticed the commotion yet. He was focused on Heero.

Heero was strapped to a device on the table. He was on his hand and knees. His wrists were tied to rings on either side of the table, forcing his hands to sit directly under his shoulders. There was a chain connecting the two wrists so he couldn't spread them any further. There were electrodes attached to his upper arms and his shoulders.

His head was covered in an ensemble of leather and plastic. There was a strap that held his mouth open wide enough for the thin tube that snaked inside. Another pair of straps hooked to a second strap around his face were positioned on each side kept his head to keep it anchored to the table so he couldn't lift it higher than his shoulders or lower then his upper arms. Charcoal colored liquid ran through the tube, most probably going to his stomach. A thin piece of plastic, light enough for me to see through, covered his eyes and was flashing brilliant colors.

His chest bore an ensemble of leather straps that held him suspended in the air to prevent collapse, but also strapped to the table so he couldn't lift his chest or torso. Both were covered with electrodes as well.

His legs were held immobile by another assortment of leather straps. His ankles were chained to rings that forced him to keep them spread horribly wide. Like his wrists, there was a strap around his knees that prevented them from widening any further….and like the rest of his body, were covered in electrodes.

IV lines were stuck haphazardly all over his body, delivering drugs that probably made his mind more susceptible to coercion as well as mild tranquilizers.

But the part that bothered me the most was the condition Heero was in. He was covered in bruises and cuts and dried blood. His body was convulsing, and I could see that he was fighting to keep his wings in. His back was shifting painfully as he fought Marsh's commands, tufts of fur were sprouting out over his body before he managed to get the transformation under control. He struggled and convulsed so badly that one of his shoulders managed to twist out of it socket as I watched.

"Holy fuck." Duo said from behind me. "Let's get him out of there."

TBC


	11. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

_Duo POV_

I don't think I've ever seen anything as horrific as Heero Yuy in the throes of absolute agony. Immobilized by straps, helpless, and at the mercy of the person controlling the mind control switch. It made my blood boil.

Trowa took charge of killing the scientist, Marsh, while I shut down the equipment. The visor of lights – a horrible device created by a scientist who found that the lights overwhelmed a person's eyes, and then their mind, enabling that person to be controlled easier – was the first to go. Vacant blue eyes that still reflected the myriad of lights, blinked.

"Heya pal." I said soothingly. He flinched as I moved my hands over the straps holding the tube in his throat. "It's okay. I'm going to take the tube out buddy." I unhooked the straps and gently began to pull the tube out. Heero retched as it moved, but nothing came up until the tube was out.

I dodged charcoal splatter as he retched up the liquid. I winced as his head jerked against the restraints I had yet to remove. "Easy buddy." I soothed, moving to his side. He flinched again as I removed the head restraints. His head lowered in obvious relief when they were tossed to the side.

"I'm going to destroy files." Trowa spoke up softly. Heero flinched again as Trowa moved by us.

"Okay. I'll be a while in here." I turned to soothe Heero, who began retching again. Trowa retreated and I concentrated on Heero. "All right buddy, I have to touch you to get you free." I warned him.

I started with the IV lines, gently pulling them out. He flinched each time I touched him. My eyes watered each time he did, and I had to steady my hands before moving to the wrist restraints.

"Okay buddy, I'm going to remove this crap from your left arm." I said softly. I slowly removed the cuff, wincing at the raw skin it left, then removed the electrodes from his skin. The little spots left behind were the result of irritation from the glue.

Heero kept still, breathing shallowly as I removed the other wrist cuff and electrodes. The tufts of fur that he had been fighting to keep from appearing, slid back into his body as he calmed. "That's it buddy. You're safe now, you can relax. I'm going to remove everything from your legs now. Hold still."

The cuffs and straps were removed with care, and the electrodes fell with light tugs. I coaxed him into closing his legs and tucking them underneath him. He trembled when I removed the strap connecting torso and chest to table. "Easy." I soothed.

I unhooked the strap above him, and slowly lowered him to the table. His legs slid out to the side and I let him rest on his side. I quickly removed the electrodes and the straps, tossing them to the side. "All done buddy."

"I found blankets." Trowa's sudden appearance made Heero convulse in fear on the table. I was quick to sooth him. Trowa brought a medium weight blanket over and I spread it over Heero's naked body. "Is he okay to move? The others are ready to blow this place."

"Yeah. You can take Scythe for me. He's by the vehicle hangar. I'll take one of the closed jeeps with Heero." Trowa nodded. "Okay Heero, I'm gonna pick you up buddy." Heero's eyes were clenched shut as I slipped one arm under his knees and another under his shoulders.

"Nnn…" He grunted as I lifted him.

"It's okay, I'm gonna carry you out of here." Heero's eyes opened and he stared vacantly up at me. I suppressed a shudder at the drugged, pain-filled gaze. "We'll get you home and patched up." I promised. Something in my tone must have soothed him further, because he tilted his head to rest it on my chest and let out a heaving sigh.

I followed Trowa out of the lab, careful not to jostle Heero too much. It couldn't be helped though, and he occasionally let out soft cries of pain. We made it to the vehicle hanger and I watched Trowa climb up into Deathscythe. Once the gundam was on I found a closed jeep with softer seats, and lay Heero in the back seat.

I wrapped the lap belt around his waist, and I had to grab him to keep him from flailing in fear. "It's okay Heero! It's just a seat belt, so you don't roll off." I soothed him. "I'll take it off when we get home." He whimpered, but settled. I loosened the belt so he could barely feel it, then climbed into the drivers seat and hotwired the car.

"I'm sorry buddy, but it'll be pretty bumpy." I said, glancing in the rearview mirror. He lay unmoving so I backed the car up and gunned it down the paved road. Once we hit woods and dirt roads, I slowed down to a crawl. Behind me, I heard the others open fire on the base.

The ride took longer than I wanted it to. I had to drive carefully over bumps, and even then Heero choke out a cry. When I saw the safe house in the distance, I sighed in relief. All of the lights were on, and the front door was wide open. I screeched to a stop in front of it, and carefully pulled Heero into my arms. I ignored the stains on the seats.

"We're home Hee-chan." I said as I hurried inside. Quatre met me at the stairs, and choked back a horrified gasp.

"The bath's ready." He said, and followed me up. Wu Fei was waiting, bag of herbal medicines at the ready.

"That's…." I nodded and set Heero down on the floor by the bath. The blanket slipped away to reveal a pale, bruised shoulder. I rolled up my sleeves and Heero flinched.

"It's okay. Wu Fei is here, he's gonna help me with some medicines." I soothed, tugging at the blanket. It wouldn't budge. "He won't touch you, I promise. He just needs to see your wounds so he can add the right medicines. Then he'll just stand back and watch, on hand in case I need something." Slowly the blanket slipped away. Heero was too weak to even bring his knees up to his chest.

"Damn…" Wu Fei swore, then knelt and rummaged through his bag. "Put this in first." He handed me a bottle. "All of it." Then glancing at Heero, who was staring at the bottle with that blank gaze, he told us what it was. "It's a light painkiller. It'll numb your wounds." I poured it in. "This is a light disinfectant. It'll get most of the dirt out." I poured the second bottle in. A third bottle was placed to the side and labeled as a stronger disinfectant we'd use after the initial bath. The fourth bottle was a muscle relaxant that soothed abused muscles.

"That all?" I asked as he zipped the bag.

"I have a cream to put on under dressings, but we'll do that in his room." The bag was gently shoved to the side. "You can put him in now." I nodded and lifted Heero up and into the warm water. He hissed as it hit his wounds, and I soothed him as he tried to scramble out. Eventually the painkiller and relaxants kicked in and he relaxed in my arms. "Let him soak for at least twenty minutes." Wu Fei said. "Get him in up to his shoulders if you can."

"Sure thing." I lowered Heero into the water, and he merely grunted as new wounds came into contact. He stayed relaxed as I let him soak, only stirring when I used a soft cloth to wipe his face clean of blood and the charcoal stuff.

When the water was tinted red from blood and grime, Wu Fei drained then refilled it, pouring more painkillers and relaxants in. Heero flinched when the Chinese boy moved, but otherwise stayed calm. "It's okay. Say Fei, can I wash his hair?" I asked, fingering the greasy mass. I was handed a small bottle.

"No-sting." He explained as he stopped the flow of water. I nodded and proceeded to wash the unruly mass Heero called hair. When I was done, Wu Fei handed me the bottle he had set aside before and half-drained the tub. "Wash the wounds thoroughly with this." I nodded.

Heero squirmed and flinched every time I touched one of the wounds with the cloth, but considering the torture he went through there were very few horrific open wounds. Bruises, rub marks and breaks from where the restraints held him, raw and open welts from a belt or strap of leather were plentiful. But most of the torture had been mental. And that would be the hardest to heal.

I finished cleaning the wounds and Wu Fei drained the tub. I wrapped Heero in a large fluffy towel and patted him dry before following Wu Fei into his room. The bed was made, the covers drawn back, and a med kit full of supplies was waiting.

"Almost done buddy." I said as I lay Heero on the bed. He whimpered and tried to pull the covers over himself but I gently pulled them away as I sat on the edge of the bed, facing him. "Let me bandage these first." I said.

I worked quickly. I smeared cream over all of the wounds I could reach, then bandaged them with gauze. His wrists and ankles were wrapped snugly with an ace bandage, the rest were taped on. One roll of bandage was wound around his ribs for support, and around the one shoulder that had been popped out of its socket.

I lifted him up to reach the wounds on his back, and he slumped against me. "Fei? Come help? Heero, Fei's gonna come over to bandage these so you can lean on me." Heero tensed when Wu Fei came over, and flinched when he was touched, but didn't struggle. Wu Fei was skilled in the art of bandaging so he was done in less than ten minutes.

"All done." He said in a soft voice. I let Heero drop gently back to the bed and covered him with the blankets. He curled on his side and pulled them up to his chin. He still had that blank look in his eyes, but the pain was practically gone. It left him looking even deader.

"All done now buddy." I said. "Now you can sleep, and when you wake we'll have something for you to eat." Wu Fei moved to pick up the first aid supplies and I started to stand up. I was nearly jerked onto my ass as my braid was snagged. A soft grunt and a quick glance confirmed that it had not caught on anything – Heero had grabbed a hold of it and was now looking up at me.

"I think he wants you to stay." Wu Fei said.

"Is that what you want buddy?" I asked softly. Heero nodded before burying his head in the pillow and shifting over hopefully. I sat myself back down on the bed, this time with my back leaning against the headboard. "Okay then." I said. Heero wrapped the end of my braid around his fist. "Fei? Bring me some food in a few hours?"

"Yes." He backed out of the room and shut the door. I shifted my gaze to look down at Heero, who buried his face in my thigh.

"It's okay buddy. I'm here for ya. We all are yanno? Remember when we first met? It was only weeks ago! It seems like I knew you much longer though. Trowa brought you in, they thought you were unconscious. I came out of the house just as you ran into Q-ball. According to Fei, his expression was just priceless. From what I could see of yours, it was as well."

When I brushed aside his bangs, I realized that Heero had fallen asleep. I smiled.

TBC


	12. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

_Duo POV_

It took days for the drugs to leave Heero's system, and the whole time he wouldn't let me or Trowa out of his sight. If one of us weren't there with him, the other had to be. If both of us were there then he was relaxed and content, or as content as he could be while battling pain from the infected wounds.

On the third day of his return, J triggered his "civilian" personality and left us dealing with a depressed and ragged mess that ,thankfully, wasn't scared of the others anymore. But if we thought the soldier was bad, the civilian was worse.

Without the mental abilities of his soldier persona the pain from the lashes, the stomach upset from the drugs forced into his stomach, the head pain from the high frequency rays flashed into his brain in an attempt to re-program him, all made him miserable. He couldn't move without feeling intense pain, and somehow the waves had affected him more than we thought.

"I think that guy was partially successful." I revealed to the others while Heero slept. Quatre looked up. "Think about it. If he had been unsuccessful, then the soldier we picked up would not have shown pain no matter what, even if he had to pass out to do that. Isn't that what Heero said before?"

"Yeah, he did say that."

"And now the civilian is upstairs, wracked with pain. Even before, as a civilian he was stronger." Quatre lowered his gaze. "I think the mind ray worked, just a little bit. If he had been hooked to it longer, or over a longer period of time, I think his mind might have melted just like the thing was made for."

"And he would have been successful in re-programming him." Trowa finished. "It wouldn't have taken long either. From the intensity of the lights I saw, it was at full capacity."

"What do we do?" Wu Fei asked.

"I can tell you one thing we WON'T do." I said. "And that's inform J. We have to tell him that Heero isn't fit yet for battle, but we can't tell him that the device worked enough to change Heero."

"Isn't that dangerous? What about side effects…?"

"We'll have to deal." I said. "If J learned of this I have no doubt in my mind that he'll snatch Heero up for re-training quicker that a cat would snatch a fish out of a bowl." Eyes narrowed all around and I smirked. J was now officially on the blacklist of all us pilots, because we all knew about J and his sadism from little stories told by Heero. Our little plans of J's destruction were interrupted by a small thump coming from above.

"I'll go check on him." Trowa offered. He pushed away from the table and made his way up the stairs.

"So now what do we do?" I asked.

"I hate saying this…but I think we should first wean Heero off of the trigger. Then we take our leave of the scientists." Quatre said after a few minutes.

"Wean…..take leave….Are you crazy Quatre!" Wu Fei spluttered. "We just can't get rid of the trigger! There is no possible way…."

"Yes, there is." I looked up at the interruption in shock to find Trowa supporting Heero in the doorway. "Well, maybe not completely but there is a way to transfer the voice command to another so J can't use it." Heero revealed. He limped to a chair with Trowa's help.

"Really?" Wu Fei asked in surprise. Heero let out a groan as he was lowered into the chair. The poor guy must be in a lot of pain, and I could tell by the barely repressed shivers that while he wasn't totally afraid of the others, he was still nervous around them.

"He uses the collar." Heero said. "I remember when he first started using it, he told the soldier to not let anyone remove it. It's connected somehow to a metal chip in my brain that re-enforces the triggering. If you remove….." He cut off and bent over in pain. Sparks shot from the collar.

"Heero!" I rushed over to him, just as Trowa caught him. Heero gasped.

"Listen! Remove the collar and it'll short the chip. You'll have two minutes while I'm unconscious to speak. Speak the key then say the words you want to use as triggers."

"We'll be able to activate the triggers?" I asked. Heero nodded and moaned as another jolt from the collar rushed through his abused body.

"The collar acts as a control device." Heero gasped out. "As you see. If it's removed then the chip will act in it's stead. It won't shock me but it'll release a series of waves that'll make me obey you if you say first the key then the command." Heero fell limp and slid out of the chair into my lap.

"Shit."

"That about sums it up." Wu Fei said as the collar fell still.

"That settles it then?" Quatre asked, shaken. "We get rid of the collar and re-program him so we can control the triggering." I nodded. "Then we'll take leave of the scientists."

"I suggest we keep in contact with them anyway." Wu Fei said. "They send us information and missions, but we decided whether to act on them. That way we don't go blind into anything, and we can keep an eye on them to make sure they don't do anything like this to anyone else."

"Wu Fei's right." Trowa agreed. I fiddled with the collar, studying it. Then I realized that there was a voice coming from it.

"Shit. Guys! I need earplugs!" Trowa twisted his head to look at me as I slapped my hands over Heero's ears. "Damn guys, hurry. The trigger is activated by J's voice and he's talking through the collar!"

Seconds later I had earplugs stuffed into Heero's ears and I could hear J as he cursed us. "Well Doc, I suppose you can hear us else you wouldn't be trying to trigger our friend here. So listen closely. You've lost your weapon. We will get rid of this damned collar and Heero will be free of your manipulations. We will also be free of the others, do be a doll and tell them for us?"

"Damn you!"

"Yeah yeah. Now listen. We will keep fighting. But it will be on our terms. We'll welcome any info and any help regarding our Gundams, and we'll take missions….but if we don't like the looks of a mission we won't do it. In between missions we'll do whatever we damn well please. Capiche?" I heard a click and knew J had clicked the collar off. I smirked.

"That went well." Quatre said.

"Too well." Wu Fei said, just as Heero woke up. He left the ear plugs in, probably guessing why they were there.

"You have a few days before he gets over his anger enough to do anything. Get rid of the collar before then." He said before resting his head on my shoulder. "I suggest you do it sooner rather than later."

"Okay!" I said with a grin. "Operation: Re-Program the Perfect Soldier will commence!"

Owari

To be continued in Book Two.

Current Timeline:

Prologue: (Saturday, August 1) Heero arrives at the safe house

Chapter One: (Saturday, Late August 1) Heero meets everyone but Duo

Chapter Two: (Sunday, Early August 2) Heero meets Duo, we learn a little about his life

Chapter Three: (Sunday, August 2) Group meeting, explanations

Chapter Four: (Sunday, Late August 2 – Monday, August 3) Heero and Duo go in to town, Heero reveals another secret

Chapter Five: (Monday, August 31) Heero is triggered, Heero and Quatre's first Mission

Chapter Six: (Tuesday, September 1) Heero and Duo go for a run

Chapter Seven: (Wednesday, September 2 +)Quatre follows Heero around, Heero is informed of a mission

Chapter Eight: (Monday, September 7+)Heero and Trowa go on a mission and get captured

Chapter Nine: (Monday, September 14) Duo, Quatre, and Wu Fei to the rescue!

Chapter Ten: (Monday, September 14+)Heero and Trowa are home again

Chapter Eleven: (Monday, September 21)The guys make an important decision regarding Heero

**Author's Note**: Now that Book One is finished, i'm working on Book Two. But I NEED IDEAS. Any suggestions for what should happen in Book Two would be appreciated. Until i finish Book Two, i'm afraid there wont be any updates for this Arc. There will, however, be a new story posted by tuesday at the latest unless something personal comes up.


End file.
